A federal judge has sentenced three animal rights activists to four to six years in prison and ordered them to help pay more than $1 million in restitution for inciting violence and terror against Huntingdon Life Sciences, a contract research organization in the U.S. and U.K. that has long been the target of militant animal rights groups. Three other defendants await sentencing within the next two weeks.
U.S. District Court Chief Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton, NJ, sentenced Kevin Kjonaas, former president of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty USA Inc. (SHAC-USA), to 72 months in jail. Lauren Gazzola, SHAC-USA's former campaign coordinator, was sentenced to 52 months, while Jacob Conroy, who served as the group's coordinator and Web site manager, got 48 months. Each will be on three years of supervised probation after serving their terms. As the group's former leader, Kjonaas was ordered to serve a minimum of 60 ...
