Jacob Sherman, a 21-year-old Portland State University student, was subsequently arrested by the FBI and interrogated on four separate occasions. About four months after his arrest Sherman admitted to his involvement in both arsons. In order to avoid a potential life sentence in prison, Sherman named three others who had participated in the crimes: Tre Arrow, Angela Marie Cesario and Jeremy David Rosenbloom. Cesario and Rosenbloom decided to enter plea agreements since Sherman had already implicated Arrow. All three entered guilty pleas and while Sherman named the high-profile activist Arrow as the mastermind behind the arsons, Cesario and Rosenbloom disputed this and testified that Jacob himself was the mastermind.