They Stole Prized Lumber from National Forest; Trees’ DNA Proved It, Feds Say

upstart writes:

They stole prized lumber from a national forest. The trees' DNA proved it, feds say.:

In a first for a federal criminal trial, prosecutors used tree DNA to prove the remains matched that of the timber the men sold to local mills.

The tree genetics convinced jury members in Tacoma, Wash., and on Thursday they convicted Justin Andrew Wilke for his role in the theft and trafficking of illegally reaped timber.

Wilke and Shawn Edward Williams were charged with multiple felonies related to the scheme in September 2019. Williams pleaded guilty in December 2019 to stealing the trees and setting the fire. He was sentenced to 30 months in prison last September.

[...] The Olympic National Forest is known for its towering, lush and wide-trunked trees. The bigleaf maple[*] is among the more prized inhabitants - its patterned wood often coveted for woodworking and manufacturing musical instruments. But it is illegal to chop down trees in national forests without a permit.

[...] Wilke made $400 to $7,000 on the sales, court documents showed.

During Wilke's six-day trial earlier this month, prosecutors presented evidence from Richard Cronn, a research geneticist for the Agriculture Department's Forest Service, who proved that the lumber Wilke sold was a genetic match to the remains of three vandalized bigleaf maples in the national forest.

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