Activist Gets 5 Years For Sheepskin Store Fire
DENVER (AP) -- An animal rights activist from Salt Lake City has been sentenced to five years in prison for setting fire to a Denver-area store that sells products made from sheepskin and ordered to pay $1.2 million in restitution
Walter Edmund Bond, 34, was defiant during Friday's sentencing hearing in Denver. He told Judge Christine Arguello that he wouldn't pay one dollar in restitution and defended his actions.
Bond defiantly told the judge, "You have won nothing" as he was sentenced. He also told the owner of the store, "You will never get a dime."
Arguello warned him that if he didn't pay for the damage to the Sheepskin Factory, he would face even more time behind bars.
"I think what Walter did was act out on his deep passion and convictions because of the oppression of sensitive beings," said animal rights activist Elizabeth Tobier.
Bond pleaded guilty in November to setting the fire. That fire destroyed a 30-year-old family business that had no insurance.
"He said, 'You should burn in hell.' I don't even know him. It shows how dangerous this person is," said Sheepskin Factory store owner Louis Livaditis. "I think that justice will prevail and he's going to stay there for a while and we hope we will be safe and society will be safe."
Bond was turned in by his brother. He also faces federal charges in Utah for fires at the Salt Lake City Tandy Leather Factory Store, and the Tiburon Fine Dining restaurant in Sandy.
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