"Victim" of anti-semitic "hate-crime" arson convicted of arson and fraud

[sullivan]

The Register Guard

Woman admits role in setting fire framed as hate crime

A woman who allegedly masterminded a 1994 Reedsport arson that raised statewide alarm that she had been the victim of an anti-Semitic hate crime has acknowledged direct involvement in setting the fire.

Sherry Lynn Davenport, then Sherry Lynn Armstrong, acknowledged her role in a sworn affidavit Sept. 8 as part of a federal court motion to end her postprison supervision earlier than planned.

She was sentenced to prison for nearly 11 years after a 1995 federal jury convicted her of conspiracy, arson and fraud, along with her then-husband Lee Armstrong and their friend Clarence "Dan" Davenport. The Armstrongs divorced in June 2006 and she married Davenport in December 2006, after her release from prison.

The trio continued to deny setting the fire even after their conviction and a trial that included an FBI surveillance video that showed Sherry Armstrong leaving the building and driving away with her accomplices less than two minutes before smoke began pouring from their rented apartment in a former hotel in old town Reedsport. Shortly before beginning their prison terms — the men received sentences of nearly 10 years each — the three called a press conference in which they accused federal officials of doctoring the videotape to frame them.

In the motion to end her post-prison supervision, Davenport reminded U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan that she has no other convictions and no violations of her postprison supervision. She said she and Clarence Davenport, 51, have been working toward the goal of moving to Israel as part of their "long-standing commitment to the Jewish faith."

Court documents show that the couple had been living in Drain but planned to move to Ohio as soon as her supervision ended. A rabbi there has offered to help get them jobs while they await their move to Israel. Hogan ended Sherry Armstrong's post-prison supervision Sept. 25.

Reached through that rabbi, she provided an e-mail statement to The Register-Guard.

"The reason for the affidavit is we are tired and just want this endless nightmare to be over," she wrote in part. "Please remember the admission was in relation to the fire, the hate crime was real, it happened. Living with that kind of hate caused some poor judgments to be made on our part, one of which was to fight our case in court and the media.

"Other than this we have no further statement, other than I wish you would let us move on with our lives. There is a term I am sure you use or have used, it is called 'debt paid.' "

Four months before the fire, the trio began reporting to Reedsport police a series of incidents in which large swastikas and other anti-Jewish messages were spray-painted on the historic building or scratched into the paint of their vehicles, former Reedsport police Chief John Smart said this week. They also reported telephone death threats and a break-in at their apartment.

At trial, however, the prosecution said the anti-Semitic incidents were staged by the perpetrators to set up an arson-for-money scheme. Assistant U.S. Attorney Frank Papagni presented evidence that the three were facing eviction for failing to pay rent and were delinquent on other bills while buying fire insurance policies on their belongings within days of the fire.

At their sentencing, Hogan charged that the trio had "undeservedly besmirched the reputation" of the Reedsport community by claiming to be hate crime victims and then setting the fire for financial gain.

In a sworn statement signed last month, Davenport, now 61, acknowledged that "on August 31, 1994, the house located at 339 Fir Avenue, Reedsport, Oregon, was burned down."

"As a final step of my rehabilitation, I acknowledge and admit that I was directly involved in that arson," she wrote.

Smart, who learned of her admission from a reporter, said he appreciated the belated confession.

"I'm glad to see that she acknowledges her part in that, because they did so strongly deny any involvement," he said. "It really did cast kind of a bad feeling about the community."

Smart, now Reedsport's acting city administrator, stressed that he was providing a personal reaction, not speaking on behalf of the city.

"The only thing that would have made it nicer is if she would have apologized to the community," he said.

Smart remembers Reedsport residents being "very upset" with the anti-Semitic vandalism, particularly when a large swastika was spray-painted on a wall of their rented quarters that was visible from Highway 38, he said. "There was a large contingent of people, led by our council and mayor, that wanted to paint it and clean it up right away," he said. "But (the Armstrongs and Davenport) didn't want that until the news got there. That was kind of the beginning of the odd feeling for me."

Smart said the trio further "pointed toward the community" by complaining that the police were not doing their job to help them. "There just became a very bad taste in my mouth," he said.

Papagni, who prosecuted the case, agreed that "aspersions were cast on the community, generically, as some kind of hotbed of anti-Semitism."

He said the FBI became involved in the matter out of concern that the three were being victimized because of their religion.

"We first began the investigation as a civil rights matter, not an arson," he said. The surveillance cameras, which ended up implicating the trio, had been set up to catch the perpetrators of the reported anti-Semitic threats and vandalism, he said.

He expressed hope that Sherry Davenport's acknowledgment of the arson would provide closure for Reedsport residents by letting them know "this was actually a crime committed by these individuals and not by some anti-Semitic group in the community."

Papagni, who supported Davenport's motion for terminating her post-prison supervision, said he wished her well in the future. "She served her sentence and paid her dues to society," he said.