Incarceration has changed the Ellerman brothers.
Three years ago, Clinton "Colby" Ellerman, 22, was building pipe bombs he knew would be used to destroy a Sandy fur farm. His younger brother, Douglas (Josh) Ellerman, 21, helped place and light the bombs that caused almost $1 million in damage to the co-operative.They were Straight Edgers and members of the Animal Liberation Front. But spending at least a year behind bars has given each brother a chance to reflect and know that bombing the Fur Breeders Agricultural Cooperative was wrong.
"Since I've been locked down . . . I have realized I made a very big mistake, a very dangerous and stupid mistake," said Josh Ellerman, who was in federal court Friday to ask for a sentence reduction.
Colby Ellerman also appeared before U.S. District Judge Thomas Greene Monday to be sentenced after pleading guilty to making the bombs.
"I would like to apologize to the Fur Breeders people for all that I did," Colby Ellerman said while addressing the court.
Showing some leniency, the judge reduced Josh Ellerman's sentence from seven years to 71 months. He also ordered Colby Ellerman to serve five years in prison and to share the $750,000 in restitution with his brother.
"You were the brains," Greene told Colby Ellerman. "Your little brother seemed to have been the energy."
According to court testimony, on March 11, 1997, Josh Ellerman and other ALF members placed the bombs throughout the co-op and lit fires in the co-op's business office. The Ellermans refused to cooperate with authorities until their father persuaded them to tell the truth, said Josh Ellerman's attorney, Ron Yengich.
Josh "has spoken out against the type of violence that brings him here," Yengich said. "He has shown a desire, by speaking against it, that others don't follow the same path."
Greene chided the Ellermans for lying before deciding to cooperate with authorities. In an attempt to shield his brother, Josh Ellerman said under oath at his sentencing that he had built and distributed the bombs.
"The truth had to be bounced against prior lies," which may have prevented a jury from convicting three others during a trial last year, Greene said. "You know what has happened to you is of your own doing."