FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                          CR
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 1997                       (202) 616-2777
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888


          KANSAS WOMAN SENTENCED TO 30 MONTHS IN PRISON
FOR SETTING FIRE TO TWO REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH CLINICS IN VIRGINIA


     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal court in Newport News,
Virginia, today sentenced a Kansas woman to 30 months in prison
for setting fire to two reproductive health clinics in the state,
the Justice Department announced.

     Jennifer Patterson Sperle of Wichita pleaded guilty in
November 1996, to conspiring to set fire to the Peninsula Medical
Center for Women in Newport News in December 1994, and the
Tidewater Women's Health Center in Norfolk in March 1995.  At the
time of the incidents Sperle resided in Norfolk.

     U.S. District Court Judge Raymond A. Jackson today also
sentenced Sperle to three years of supervised release following
her prison term and ordered Sperle to pay $1,355 in restitution
to the Tidewater Women's Health Center.  At the sentencing today,
Sperle admitted to burning the facilities, acknowledged she was
wrong, and denounced violence.

     Sperle, who will report to federal prison on March 12, was
indicted last March, along with Clark Ryan Martin of Norfolk. 
Martin, who pleaded guilty in May 1996, will be sentenced at a
later date.

     The investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and the Norfolk Police Department,
with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 
Attorneys from the Justice Department's Criminal and Civil Rights
Divisions conducted the grand jury investigation that resulted in
the convictions. 
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