Note: some documents use Marius' name and pronouns previous to his transition.

Marius Mason was arrested in Cincinnati, Ohio in March 2008 and charged in federal court with 4 counts of arson and conspiracy to commit arson. He was arrested because his husband Frank Ambrose, who also participated in some of these actions, became a snitch.

The charges stemmed from his involvement in environmentally motivated actions claimed by the Earth and Animals Liberation Front that occurred during 1999-2000. Marius and three other individuals were charged with, among other things,  the destruction of an office tied to research of genetically modified plants at Michigan State University and the destruction of logging equipment outside of Mesick, Michigan.

Facing decades in prison, Marius was pressured into signing a plea agreement in September 2008. The plea agreement forced Marius to admit to 3 of the 4 charges in the indictment, as well as to admit his involvement in 12 other acts of sabotage (although he was not charged for any of these other acts). Although the government agreed to not ask for a sentence of more than 240 months, in February of 2009 the judge (who was not bound by the plea agreement) sentenced Marius to an outrageous 262 months in prison– almost 22 years for acts that harmed not a single person or creature.  Marius also must pay over $4 million in restitution.

Part of the reason Marius received such an egregious sentence was that during his sentencing hearing the judge applied the “Terrorism Enhancement.” The language of Marius’ plea agreement indicated that Marius acknowledged at least two of the counts in his indictment qualified as federal crimes of terrorism under 18 USC § 2332b(g)(5). Marius’ lawyer objected to the application of the enhancement during the sentencing hearing, but the objections fell on deaf ears.

Marius filed a timely appeal of his sentence on four bases: (1) his sentence was substantively unreasonable; (2) the government breached his plea agreement; (3) statutory sentence differences in federal arson crimes violate equal protection; and (4) the rule of lenity should have been applied to his case. Unfortunately, in December 2010 the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Marius’ appeal on all grounds.

Additional Links: Legal documents are open to the public and posted for informational purposes only.

Legal and Related Documents

Marius Mason

• Marius Mason’s sentencing transcript(Feb 5, 2009)
• Plea Agreement
• Marius Mason’s statement at his sentencing (Feb 5, 2009)
• Lauren Regan (CLDC) on Marius Mason’s plea bargain
• Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, ruling refusing Mason’s appeal (December 2010)

Co-Defendants

Frank Ambrose

• Frank Ambrose 10/20/2008 Sentencing Transcript
• Government’s Sentencing Memorandum of Frank Ambrose
• Defense’s Sentencing Memorandum of Frank Ambrose

Aren Burthwick

• Aren Burthwick Plea Agreement
• Aren Burthwick Superseding Indictment

Stephanie Fultz

• Stephanie Fultz Plea Agreement
• Stephanie Fultz Waiver of Indictment

More About Marius

Marius Mason is an anarchist, environmental and animal rights activist currently serving nearly 22 years in federal prison for acts of property damage carried out in defense of the planet. After being threatened with a life sentence in 2009 for these acts of sabotage, he plead guilty to arson charges at a Michigan State University lab researching genetically modified organisms for Monsanto. 12 other acts of property damage were included in his plea deal. No one was physically harmed in these actions. At sentencing the judge applied a so-called “terrorism enhancement,” adding almost two years to an already extreme sentence requested by the prosecution. This is the harshest punishment of anyone convicted of environmental sabotage to date.

Shortly after his sentencing Marius was incarcerated in the high security Administration Unit at the Federal Medical Center Carswell in Fort Worth, Texas.  The unit was “designed for female inmates with histories of escapes, chronic behavior problems, repeated incidents of assaultive or predatory behavior, or other special management concerns…” (FMC Carswell Information Packet). Marius did not have a record of violating prison rules. It become apparent that he was being held in this unit because of his political beliefs and in an effort to silence him.

Through constant advocacy, Marius was finally moved out of the Administrative Unit at Carswell and into a unit more closely resembling general population in May 2017.  In March 2019 his request for transfer to be closer to family and friends was granted.  He now is imprisoned at SCI Danbury.

Marius came out to his friends, family and supporters as transgender in 2014. Previously known as “Marie Mason,” he changed his name, uses he/him pronouns, and embarked on a course to get a medical diagnosis that would allow him to seek gender affirming surgery and hormone therapy. The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has already diagnosed Marius as having gender dysphoria, and has made some clothing and commissary accommodations in accordance with their established policy. Subsequently, Carswell ran a plethora of medical diagnostic tests to screen him as being healthy enough to receive the care he has requested. Finally, on September 14, 2016, Marius received his first “T” hormone shot. On Sept 7th 2021 he won his fight to be transferred to the male prison at Danbury.

Marius has a long history of activism going back to his high school years. Born in 1962, his early activism included anti-war and environmental organizing, as well as anti-nuclear work and service with the anarchist publication, the Fifth Estate. Marius continues to contribute to that publication today. As Marius deepened his involvement in environmental and animal rights campaigns he organized or helped organize non-violent civil disobedience direct action campaigns, including actions to protect public lands, tree-sits to protest development, and anti-fur demonstrations. Marius’ advocacy also involved much work with many conservation and human rights groups tackling issues of water grabs and poverty, while also fighting to create local spaces like community gardens. His work spans many organizations, such as Earth First!, Sweetwater Alliance, Food Not Bombs, ADAPTT (Animals Deserve Protection Today and Tomorrow); and through Anarchist Black Cross, also worked on getting books into prisons. He was active on workers’ rights issues, primarily through involvement with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW) for nearly two decades.

An accomplished artist, poet, and musician, Marius has continued to build his artistic skills in prison. Those expressions bring solace in a place that works hard to crush and erase it. Marius’s beautiful paintings often speak to the struggles and issues that he continues to care about from inside the prison walls. Many pieces can be found on his website.

Marius has been involved in so much activism on righteous causes and has done so much good in the world, that it is especially tragic he is caged in particularly egregious conditions serving the longest sentence of any of the so-called “Green Scare” prisoners. (For more on the Green Scare, see GreenIsTheNewRed.com).

The unfairness of his sentence becomes clear when compared to those meted out to others. By contrast, a man who set an “arson for profit” fire that paralyzed a Detroit firefighter and injured six of his colleagues was sentenced to a maximum of seven years in prison, the norm for arson charges.

There is no accountability in this system of injustice. It is urgent that we work to support Marius and other political prisoners and confront outrageous prison terms.

Please let Marius and other prisoners know you care. Writing letters is one of the most important things you can do: letters are a lifeline for those inside prison walls. As a federal prisoner, he has not been able to effect his name change through legal channels, so it is important for mail to be addressed to “Marie (Marius) Mason” on the envelope, along with his prisoner number.  See the guidelines for letter-writing, here.

Join the listserv for updates and events, including the Jan 22 Trans Prisoner Day of Action and Solidarity and The International Day of Solidarity with Marius Mason and All Long-term Anarchist Prisoners on June 11.  

Video/Radio

Kite Line – October 22, 2021 “We start off this week’s episode with an update on Marius Mason’s transfer to a men’s facility. Marius is an imprisoned environmentalist who, in addition to waging an Earth Liberation Front sabotage campaign, was an important aboveground organizer for social movements in Indiana and Michigan for decades. He came out as transgender while in prison, and has recently spoken out about his successful transfer to a men’s facility.”

Kite Line – September 23, 2016: Dear Marius

Hear messages from people to and about Marius, listen to some of Marius’s music and poetry, and learn about his case.

“Until All Are Free” Radio Documentary

Documentary on Political Prisoners Eric McDavid and Marius Mason

“Privatizing Our Water – Will the Air Be Next?”

(look for Marius starting at 20:50)

Vandana Shiva on Marius Mason