Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, Arson and Conspiracy, Oregon 2023

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Pacific Northwest environmental extremist and arsonist, Joseph Mahmoud Dibee, 53, pleaded guilty today in federal court for his role in two arson conspiracies targeting commercial and government-owned animal processing facilities in Oregon and California.

Dibee pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit arson and arson in the District of Oregon and conspiracy to commit arson in the Eastern District of California.

Today’s plea also resolves Dibee’s pending criminal case in the Western District of Washington.

“No matter the agenda, using violence to advance a social or political cause is a serious crime. Over a series of years, Mr. Dibee and his co-conspirators caused millions of dollars in damage to commercial and government-owned properties. Today, after many years on the run, Mr. Dibee admitted to his role in these schemes and will finally face justice,” said Scott Erik Asphaug, U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

According to court documents, beginning in October 1996 and continuing through December 2005, Dibee and at least 15 other individuals affiliated with the Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front knowingly conspired with one another to damage or destroy various commercial and government-owned properties.

With Dibee’s continued acceptance of responsibility, the government will recommend a sentence of 87 months in federal prison. He will be sentenced. Dibee fled the U.S. in December 2005. In late summer 2018, Cuban authorities arrested Dibee on an Interpol Red Notice. The U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security including the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Embassy in Havana assisted in returning Dibee to the U.S.

The group’s attack on the facility caused the destruction of a barn and its contents. Prior to the second incident, Dibee and others recruited co-conspirators and gathered supplies and fuel to make incendiary devices. The group used Dibee’s residence in Seattle, Washington to construct the devices and traveled from Seattle to Northern California in Dibee’s truck.

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