A Pacific Northwest environmental extremist, arsonist and former fugitive has pleaded guilty in federal court for his role in two arson conspiracies targeting commercial and government-owned animal processing facilities in Oregon and California, the U.S. Department of Justice announced last week.
Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, 53, pleaded guilty April 21 to conspiracy to commit arson and arson in the District of Oregon and conspiracy to commit arson in the Eastern District of California, according to a news release from the Department of Justice.
The plea also resolves Dibee’s pending criminal case in the Western District of Washington, according to the news release.
According to court documents, Dibee and at least 15 other individuals affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, loosely affiliated environmental extremist groups, knowingly conspired with one another to damage or destroy various commercial and government-owned properties from October 1996 through December 2005.
Dibee and his co-conspirators held meetings to plan arsons of targeted sites, conducted research and surveillance of the sites and discussed their planned actions using code words and code names, according to the news release.
The conspirators, together known as “the Family,” were ultimately linked to more than 40 criminal acts between 1995 and 2001 and caused more than $45 million in damages, according to the news release.
Dibee fled the United States in December 2005.
In late summer 2018, Cuban authorities arrested Dibee on an Interpol Red Notice. The Department of State including the U.S. Embassy in Havana, as well as the Department of Homeland Security including the U.S. Coast Guard and Immigration and Customs Enforcement assisted in returning Dibee to the United States. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs provided valuable assistance, according to the news release.
“With his continued acceptance of responsibility, the government will recommend Dibee receive a sentence of 87 months in federal prison,” according to the news release.
He will be sentenced on July 27 by U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken in the District of Oregon.
As part of his plea agreement, Dibee has agreed to pay restitution to his victims as determined by the government and ordered by the court.
One of Dibee’s co-conspirators remains at large. Josephine Sunshine Overaker, an American citizen who is either 47 or 50 years old, is believed to have fled to Europe in late 2001, according to the news release. Overaker faces 19 felony charges including conspiracy to commit arson and destruction of an energy facility, attempted arson, and arson in the District of Oregon, the Western District of Washington, and the District of Colorado. The FBI continues to offer a reward of up to $50,000 for information leading to Overaker’s arrest.
This case was investigated by the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.
The U.S. Attorneys’ Offices for the District of Oregon, Northern District of California, and Western District of Washington, and the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section are prosecuting the case.
