Moran (literally!) steals old growth trees, gets year in jail.

Theft of old-growth cedars gets man 1 year in prison, plus fine
By LISA STIFFLER
P-I REPORTER

It could have been the perfect crime. The towering old-growth cedars were on a sliver of national forest land adjacent to Kevin Moran's own property.

He chopped the Western red cedars down and dragged them over to his lot before having truckers haul them away.

Who, he must have wondered, would be the wiser when the 27 ancient trees disappeared from the forest near Lake Wenatchee?

But someone did notice and reported the theft.

This week, Moran, a 49-year old Camano Island resident, received his sentence. His penalty for stealing the trees, which were 400 to 600 years old and measured up to 6 feet in diameter, is one year and a day in federal prison and a fine.

The felony offense carried a maximum sentence of 10 years and a maximum fine of $250,000. Moran was fined $37,688, the trees' estimated market value. He faces three years of supervised probation after serving his time. The sentence was issued by U.S. District Judge Fred Van Sickle in Spokane.

more:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/371373_cedars19.html

Should have gotten the max...

For fun?

A few thousand bucks in selling the wood.

If he stole 37K from a bank he'd be going away for longer.

just to give their houses that rustic look,
maybe you'ld see less log poaching on public
lands.

http://www.buffalo-lumber.com/

I mean really killing something
three to six hundred years old
for $1.24 a board foot wholesale.

The raw log would go for even less.

I swear!

:D

this is hugh!

There's nothing like it from a woodworking perspective. I got some salvaged beam old growth white oak that was amazing. It was harvested circa 1750.

-Hoot