GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — A Michigan man will pay thousands in restitution after illegally dredging the Platte River inside Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.
Andrew Howard, 63, of Sparta and Frankfort, was sentenced to 60 months of probation and ordered to pay $22,472 in restitution, as well as $3,947 in court costs, according to a Tuesday release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Michigan. As a term of his probation, Howard was also banned from being on National Park Service property, the release says.
He was convicted in February of two federal misdemeanors for tampering and vandalism at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, according to the attorney’s office.
Michigan man convicted of tampering, vandalizing Sleeping Bear Dunes
The office says Howard disagreed with the National Park Service’s decision to let the Platte River follow its natural course. On Aug. 15, 2022, Howard used tools to dig out sediment and rocks from the river basin and divert the Platte River’s flow into Lake Michigan, according to the release.