An Arkansas man pleaded guilty on Monday to cutting down and removing 27 trees from a national forest in Missouri.
Through his plea, Jamie Edmondson, 46, admitted that he cut and removed the walnut and white oak trees from the Mark Twain National Forest in Barry County, Missouri. Edmondson pleaded guilty to one count of depredation of government property before U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge David Rush.
Between June 1, 2019, and Jan. 31, 2020, Edmonson cut down the timber and subsequently sold it to various sawmills in the area. The value of the timber was at least $20,269, according to the Justice Department. The ecological damage value associated with the cut trees and the damage remediation costs to the U.S. Forest Service are at least $44,414 each.
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Federal agents were led to Edmonson after installing surveillance cameras in the areas of the forest where trees had been removed. The cameras captured images of the truck used by Edmondson to remove the trees. The truck was later located by law enforcement.
He faces a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. His sentencing hearing will be set after a “presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office” is completed, according to the DOJ.
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The Mark Twain National Forest, named after the Missouri-born author, was established in 1939 and encompasses 1.5 million acres of public land across 29 Missouri counties.
