SAN FRANCISCO — A Northern California man described by federal officials as an anarchist and eco-terrorist intent on blowing up government and commercial buildings was set free after nine years in prison when the government conceded that evidence in the case was never turned over to his defense attorney.
U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. in Sacramento ordered Eric Taylor McDavid released from custody Thursday. As part of a deal with prosecutors, McDavid, 37, pleaded guilty to conspiring to destroy a U.S. Forest Service lab in Placerville, California, and was sentenced to time served.
England expressed exasperation at the government’s failure to turn over the evidence, which included emails and a letter from McDavid to an FBI informant that defense attorneys said would have bolstered their argument that he was entrapped and induced by sex.
“I sat through the 10-day trial of Mr. McDavid,” England said, sometimes stopping to hold his head in his left hand, according to the Sacramento Bee. “I know he’s not necessarily a choirboy, but he doesn’t deserve to go through this, either. It’s not fair.”
McDavid and two co-defendants were initially accused of plotting to bomb or set fire to the Nimbus Dam, the U.S. Forest Service lab, cellphone towers and electric power stations. Authorities said McDavid conducted surveillance at two of the sites and bought materials to make an explosive device.