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Charges dropped against animal activist Prosecutors said they were forced to act because a Supreme Court decision changed the legal definition of extortion while Peter Daniel Young was on the run. The ruling found someone must actually take something from another person, authorities said. The surprise move shocked the owner of a farm where authorities said Young helped free 300 mink in 1997. "You've got to be kidding. Unbelievable. Unbelievable," said Alex Ott, owner of Ott's Mink Ranch in Tomahawk. Young, 27, of Mercer Island, Wash., still faces two counts of animal enterprise terrorism - misdemeanors that each carry up to a year in prison. The four counts of interference with commerce by extortion each carried up to 20 years. "I'm pretty pleased, as is Peter," said Young's attorney, Chris Kelly. "We're in a much better position." Prosecutors believe Young is part of the Animal Liberation Front, a group that aims to destroy animal-related industries. He and alleged accomplice Justin Samuel were indicted in 1998 on the six charges. Prosecutors say the pair broke onto five farms in Iowa, South Dakota and Wisconsin in 1997 and freed around 7,000 mink. Samuel cooperated with authorities and got two years in prison. Young had vanished until this past March, when he was arrested in San Jose, Calif., for shoplifting CDs from a Starbucks.
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