William Cottrell

William Jensen Cottrell (born 1980) is a former Ph.D. candidate at the California Institute of Technology who was convicted in April 2005 of conspiracy associated with the destruction of eight sport utility vehicles and a Hummer dealership in the name of the Earth Liberation Front (ELF). He was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on conspiracy charges and ordered to pay $3.5 million in restitution. He was released August 16, 2011. Early life Cottrell graduated from the University of Chicago in 2002 as a double major in physics and mathematics. He also competed on the school's Division III cross country team, where he was often called the "team genius". After graduating, he was accepted to the graduate physics program at Caltech, where he would meet Tyler Johnson, who was also studying physics and finishing up his undergraduate work. Summer 2003 and SUV arsons