A Mississippi man was sentenced in federal court for illegally harvesting timber from national forest land, federal officials stated.
Kelly Holliday, 51, was sentenced after being convicted of removing white oak timber from the Holly Springs National Forest in Tippah County, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Federal agents traced the stolen timber over state borders to Tennessee, where they discovered matching tree samples at a processing mill.
A federal judge ordered Holliday to pay over $30,000 in reparations to the US Forest Service for the stolen timber and associated damage.
According to police, the illegal logging operation raised serious safety issues. The region of the forest where the timber was cut was deemed unsafe for tourists because partially felled trees were left entangled and unstable in the canopy.
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