N. Idaho Man Charged with Illegal Cutting on Forest Land

COEUR D'ALENE, Idaho (AP) — A north Idaho man charged with cutting about 40 trees illegally from a federal forest has pleaded guilty in a federal court.

Federal prosecutors say they reached a plea agreement Monday with 54-year-old Norman Leroy Bogart of Kingston. Bogart was charged with the felony last week and in the deal with prosecutors admitted cutting and hauling timber from the Idaho Panhandle National Forests between April and October last year.

Agents began investigating after finding 40 green trees had been cut from one area, then used a deer camera to capture Bogart's vehicle traveling to the cut location. Last fall, forest service agents searched his property and seized more than 58 cords of firewood. Bogart pleaded guilty to willful injury to federal property and faces up to 10 years in prison.