On Friday, a 63-year-old Troy Crandall was sentenced to 17.5 months in prison and ordered to pay $20,220.60 after being caught cutting chunks of cedar from the base of a bridge in Jefferson County.

According to court records, on October 22, 2021, DNR Officer Allan Nelson responded to the report of the sound of chain saws behind a locked DNR gate and reportedly found numerous cut cedar blocks along with two men sitting inside of a nearby vehicle.

While asking the passenger of the vehicle what was going on, the man in the driver seat, identified as 63-year-old Troy Crandall of Forks, WA, interjected and said, “This is corporate bull@#$& this bridge is just rotting away.”

The two men were arrested and booked into the Jefferson County Jail on felony charges and their vehicle and equipment was held as evidence. DNR officials say they believe the cedar chunks were going to be sold on the black market for mill owners to turn them into shake and shingles.

Crandal was found guilty of Malicious Mischief in the First Degree, Theft in the Second Degree, and Trafficking in Stolen Property in the First Degree.

The man’s accomplice also pled guilty and was sentenced as a first-time offender to 12 months of DOC community custody and ordered to pay $20,000 in restitution.