Tree Thief’s Claim of Ancient Forest Rights Denied, Guilty Verdicts Upheld by Judge
ROLFE, Iowa – A district court judge has denied a repeated effort by a man accused of stealing trees from the state to negate his guilty verdicts. Jason Levant Ferguson, 41, of Rolfe, was convicted in November of felony theft and 50 timber violations. His attorney, Kevin Fors of Harcourt, argued that the jury made an error in the conviction, insisting that Ferguson had the right to cut firewood and timber from public land for survival purposes. Fors has invoked England’s Charter of the Forest, a document from 800 years ago that established the rights … Read more