Biography
Adam Virden Blackwell, age 20, was convicted of criminal conspiracy and aiding and abetting in connection with ELF-claimed planned actions against suburban-development sites in Richmond, Virginia. Sentenced to 60 months federal prison.
Blackwell and his co-defendants John Wade and Aaron Linas were Douglas S. Freeman High School students in Henrico County who had belonged to the school’s Friends of Earth Club before adopting Earth Liberation Front tactics. Between July and October 2002 the three set kerosene-soaked wicks in the fuel tanks of construction equipment at the Short Pump Town Center mall site, etched slogans into 25 SUVs at a dealership, and vandalized fast-food restaurants, leaving ELF graffiti. Blackwell pled guilty in federal court in Richmond on January 12, 2004.
