Kathleen Solia was part of a Symbionese Liberation army plot to blow up two los Angeles police cruisers in 1975. The plot failed. She was indictedin 1976. She fled to Minnesota, changed her name to Sara Jane Olson,married a physician, raised a family, and devoted herself to charitable works.

She was arrested in St.Paul in June 1999 and brought back to California for trial. There followed two years of legal wrangling during which friends posted $1 million bail and she wrote a cookbook to raise funds for her defense. During this time she went through multiple defense attorneys finally getting public defenders. She changed her plea fromn "not guilty" to "guilty" a number of times, with comments of her innocense after the last guilty plea last Fall. She requested a change of plea earlier this month which was denied.

She was sentenced to 20 years-to-life today.

But the saga has not ended. She is to be arraigned for a fatal bank holdup April 21,1975. Also charged are Bill and Emily Harris, Mike Bortin,and James Kilgore. Palm prints lifted from the garage thatheld the getaway car match olsons.

-- John Littmann (johntl@mtn.org), January 18, 2002