Tucson Region

2 mountain lion activists face new counts of theft

Two animal activists already indicted in federal court on charges of attempting to disrupt mountain lion hunts in Sabino Canyon last year are now facing new misdemeanor charges in state court as well. Rod Coronado, 38, and Matthew A. Crozier, 32, were arraigned Monday in Pima County Justice Court on two counts each of misdemeanor theft. Coronado said the charges are related to a lion snare and a sensor around a snare set up in Sabino Canyon. He did not elaborate. The County Attorney's Office did not return calls for additional information on the charges. Defense attorney Mark Langley said both men pleaded not guilty to the new charges. In federal court, the men are each facing one felony count of conspiracy to impede or injure an officer, said Special Agent Susan Herskovits, a Phoenix-based FBI spokeswoman. The federal grand jury indictments were issued Nov. 24 and expanded the government's case against activists who trespassed in Sabino Canyon after mountain lion sightings in March caused a special closure and officials began trying to capture a mountain lion. The felony charge carries a maximum sentence of six years in prison. Trial in federal court is scheduled for May 3. Coronado, who was caught in the canyon March 24, 2004, with Esquire magazine writer John H. Richardson, was already facing misdemeanor federal charges when he was indicted on the felony count. "At what point does it become obvious that they're trying to make an example out of us?" Coronado said Monday. Coronado and Crozier, both Earth First activists, have also been indicted on federal charges of trespass on national forest lands, interfering with a forest officer and violation of a special closure order. Richardson, a 50-year-old writer from Katonah, N.Y., is facing the same misdemeanor charges. The misdemeanor federal charges have a maximum sentence of six months each.