Man Cuts Ancient Pine Trees Faces Jail Time
12/1/98
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Title: Man Cuts Ancient Pine Trees Faces Jail
Source: The Associated Press
Status: Copyrighted, contact source to reprint
Date: 12/1/98
Byline: Christine Hanley
FRESNO, Calif. (AP) -- A logger convicted of illegally cutting down
ancient pine trees in a national forest was sentenced Monday to 33 months
in prison, the second-stiffest term ever imposed for timber theft in the
United States.
Jimmie Ray Derington, 49, also was ordered to pay $309,140 for the loss of
180 trees -- some of them 200 years old -- in Sequoia National Forest.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard J. Cutler, who prosecuted the case, said
it was a shame that Derington ``still does not accept responsibility for
his actions.''
``But I guess he'll have 33 months to think about it,'' Cutler said.
Derington, the owner of a reforestation service, was convicted in
September of theft of government property and depredation of government
property, both felonies. He was scheduled to report to prison Jan. 4. His
lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
Two codefendants who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor timber theft testified
against Derington. Evidence showed Derington's logging crew took the trees
from September 1993 to the spring of 1995, a span that was a peak market
period for pines.
The prison sentence is the longest for timber theft in California. The
longest term in the country was 38 months for the theft of 800 trees from
an ancient grove in Washington.