A man wanted in connection with the 2001 arson at the University of Washington Center for Urban Horticulture has been taken into federal custody in Chicago.
The Department of Justice says Justin Solondz, 31, was taken into custody Wednesday following his expulsion from the People's Republic of China.
Solondz is alleged to have built the firebombs that started the $6 million blaze. According to court documents, he built the firebombs in a "clean room" behind an Olympia residence, transported them to Seattle, and remained in the car as a getaway driver during the arson, the Department of Justice says.
Solondz is charged with conspiracy, arson, making an unregistered destructive device and using a destructive device during a crime of violence.
Before being deported, Solondz was sentenced to three years in a Chinese prison in November 2009 for making illegal drugs. It was unclear what drugs he was found guilty of producing.
The May 21, 2001, three-alarm fire at the Center for Urban Horticulture caused over $6 million in damages. The center has been rebuilt at a cost of more than $8 million. The fire destroyed samples of rare and endangered plants. Some researchers lost important data for their work to protect endangered plant species.
In March 2008 a federal jury found Briana Waters guilty of two counts of arson for being the lookout in the fire.
The fire, which destroyed the plant research center, was one of at least 17 fires set by radical activists with the Earth Liberation Front and the Animal Liberation Front from 1996 to 2001.