Biography
Nathan "Exile" Block is an environmentalist and a former Green Scare prisoner affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front who protested genetic experimentation. He, along with Joyanna Zacher of Olympia, was indicted and arrested on February 23, 2006 for charges related to two arsons in 2001 as part of Operation Blackfire. One arson was on May 21, 2001 at the Jefferson Poplar Farm in Clatskanie, Oregon where experimental genetically altered poplars are grown. The other was in March, 2001 at the Romania Chevrolet dealership in Eugene. Exile and Sadie accepted plea agreements that did not incriminate persons other than themselves. On June 1, 2007 they were each sentenced to seven years and eight months in prison, a particularly harsh sentence from Judge Ann Aiken who sought to make an example out of them. Nathan Block was a member of the Eugene-based Earth Liberation Front cell known as The Family. He was charged in the FBIs Operation Backfire roundup and pleaded guilty in November 2006. On June 4, 2007 he was sentenced by federal Judge Ann Aiken to 92 months (7 years 8 months) in federal prison with the federal terrorism enhancement applied. He was the partner of co-defendant Joyanna Zacher.
