Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Timber thieves are charged

Two Nevada County men have been charged with theft of timber for allegedly paying a landowner only $700 when fair market value of the timber cut was more than $10,000.

Johnny McGee Watts, 39, Route 1 Box 186, Rosston, and Bobby J. Hughey, 29, 944 Highway 76, Rosston, have been charged with timber theft, a Class D felony. Both have been arraigned and were released without bond.

According to records on file with the Nevada County Circuit Clerk, a property owner contracted with Watts and Hughey to have timber cut on a tract of land located near the Waterloo community. The records indicate that no set amount was agreed on, rather (the landowner) was told they would pay her fair market price.

But the landowner reportedly told investigators that she tried numerous times to contact the men before finally receiving a check for $700.

At that point, the landowner checked with the timber company that purchased the logs and discovered that there were more weight tickets for timber from her property than she had been paid for. Because she was not certain the weight tickets represented all the timber that had been cut, she contacted a forester who reportedly conducted a stump count to determine how much timber was actually removed from the tract. According to a statement from that forester, fair market price for the timber should have been more than $10,000.

According to Mr. Hughey, he was paying $15 per ton for all logs and $6 per ton for all pulpwood, the records state. Using that figure, (the landowner) should have been paid $3,723.

Hughey reportedly met with investigators on March 16 and said he would pay based on the weight tickets available, but that payment had apparently not been made as of the date of the court filing in January.

Court records indicate that investigators also contacted Watts.

He stated that they only hauled six loads of timber from that tract, the records state. The tickets and stump count shows he lied to cover up diverted loads, which showed intent to defraud.