Sherman Austin

From Infoshop OpenWiki

Sherman Martin Austin is an anarchist who is the former webmaster of the internet site RaisetheFist.com. In 2002 he was convicted of violating 18 U.S.C. 842(p) which makes it a crime to distribute bombmaking information knowing or intending that the information will be used for a violent crime. He was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 12 months in a federal jail, a $2000 fine, three years probation, and as well as other restrictions as part of a plea bargain. The laws allows a penalty up to 20 years in a federal jail[1].

This information, which Austin claims was posted on his website by someone else, is allegedly available on the Internet in other places. While the information on how to make a bomb may not itself be illegal, the FBI asserts that the information was posted with intent for it to be used to commit a crime or terrorism. Ironically, Carnegie Mellon University professor David Touretzky, who has also posted bombmaking information to the internet, has not been charged or arrested.

Austin claims that he is not guilty and was coerced, by the government, into pleading guilty.

His time was served in a federal institution in Tucson, Arizona and was released in July 2004. His mother, Jennifer Martin Ruggiero, is an outspoken advocate for her son.