Tree DNA helps convict Washington timber thief after fire
Source: Associated Press
Tree DNA helps convict Washington timber thief after fire
July 9, 2021
TACOMA, Wash. (AP) — A federal jury has convicted a timber thief who authorities said started a large forest fire in Washington state, a case that prosecutors said marked the first time tree DNA had been introduced in a federal trial.
The jury deliberated for about seven hours before convicting Justin Andrew Wilke, 39, on Thursday of conspiracy, theft of public property, depredation of public property, and trafficking and attempted trafficking in unlawfully harvested timber, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Western Washington said in a news release.
The wood he sold to a mill in the city of Tumwater had been harvested from private property with a valid permit, Wilke said. But a research geneticist for the U.S. Forest Service, Richard Cronn, testified that the wood he sold genetically matched the remains of three poached trees.
Wilke used gasoline to destroy a wasp’s nest in the base of a maple tree he was stealing, prosecutors said, though jurors did not convict him of charges related to the fire. Some witnesses testified that, although Wilke was standing next to the nest when the fire began, they did not actually see his actions in the dark.
Wilke and others conducted an illegal logging operation in the Elk Lake area of the Olympic National Forest, near Hood Canal, between April and August 2018, according to records filed in the case. He poached maple trees prized as wood for musical instruments and brought them to lumber mills.
-snip-
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/business-science-fires-environment-and-nature-trees-0a6cbe1f39380531fc367b033481f261
______________________________________________________________________
Source: U.S. Attorney’s Office - Western District of Washington
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, July 9, 2021
Timber thief convicted following 6-day trial
Illegal timber cutting on National Forest land led to 2018 forest fire that consumed 3,300 acres
Tacoma — The lead defendant in a scheme to steal maple wood that resulted in a massive 2018 forest fire on the Olympic Peninsula was convicted July 8, 2021, in U.S. District Court in Tacoma following a 6-day jury trial, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The jury deliberated about 7 hours before convicting Justin Andrew Wilke, 39, of conspiracy, theft of public property, depredation of public property, trafficking in unlawfully harvested timber, and attempting to traffic in unlawfully harvested timber. U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle scheduled sentencing for October 18, 2021.
“When people steal trees from our public lands, they are stealing a beautiful and irreplaceable resource from all of us and from future generations,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gorman. “That theft, coupled with the sheer destruction of the forest fire that resulted from this activity, warrants federal criminal prosecution. I commend the various branches of the U.S. Forest Service who worked diligently to investigate and hold this defendant accountable.”
According to records filed in the case, between April and August 2018, Justin Andrew Wilke conducted an illegal logging operation in the Elk Lake area of the Olympic National Forest, near Hood Canal. In July 2018, just days after his release from state prison, another defendant, Shawn Edward Williams, 49, joined the conspiracy, helping Wilke remove maple from the National Forest and transporting it with Wilke to a mill in Tumwater, Washington. The type of maple harvested by the defendants is highly prized and used to produce musical instruments.
This was the first use of tree DNA evidence in a federal criminal trial. Wilke claimed the wood he sold to a Tumwater mill had been harvested from private property with a valid permit. However, at trial, Richard Cronn, Phd., a Research Geneticist for the USDA Forest Service, testified that the wood Wilke sold was a genetic match to the remains of three poached maple trees investigators had discovered in the Elk Lake area. The DNA analysis was so precise that it found the probability of the match being coincidental was approximately one in one undecillion (one followed by 36 zeroes). Based on this evidence, the jury concluded the wood Wilke sold the mill had been stolen.
On August 3, 2018, the group decided to cut a maple tree that contained a wasp’s nest near the base of the tree. To remove the nest, the group sprayed insecticide and gasoline on the nest and base of the tree and then lit the nest on fire. The group failed to extinguish the fire, which developed into a wildfire later named the “Maple Fire.” The Maple Fire consumed more than 3,300 acres between August and November 2018 and cost approximately $4.2 million to contain. Some witnesses testified at trial that Wilke was standing next to the nest when it was lit on fire, and therefore appeared to have set the fire. However, because the fire was set at night, they were not able to see his exact actions. The jury did not convict Wilke of the two federal counts related to the forest fire: setting timber afire and using fire in furtherance of a felony.
-snip-
Read more: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdwa/pr/timber-thief-convicted-following-6-day-trial
= new reply since forum marked as read
