TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A man accused in the 2001 arson at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture is scheduled to make his first appearance in federal court Wednesday afternoon in Tacoma.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle says Justin Solondz built the firebombs that started the $6 million blaze in Seattle. He faces charges including conspiracy and arson.
The 31-year-old was arrested in Chicago on July 6 following his expulsion from China, where he had been serving a prison sentence on drug charges.
The UW fire was part of a string of 17 arsons across the West by the radical environmental groups, the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front. Fourteen people have been convicted of crimes related to the fires.
