Andrew Blair Howard, 63, of Sparta and Frankfort, was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay thousands in restitution for illegally dredging the Platte River.
Howard was sentenced to 60 months’ probation and ordered to pay $22,472.22 in total restitution to the National Park Service and U.S. Coast Guard, along with $3,947.71 in costs related to the court proceedings.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Ray Kent further banned Mr. Howard as a term of his probation from being on National Park Service property, including Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The government did not seek a sentence of imprisonment.
“Mr. Howard had a policy dispute with the National Park Service over whether to dredge the Platte River. Reasonable people can disagree on the best course of action, but Congress gave NPS the power to decide. While Mr. Howard had the right to disagree and advocate for his position, he did not have the right to take the law into his own hands and force his favored result. Doing so was a misdemeanor, and this sentence holds Mr. Howard accountable for his offense,” said U.S. Attorney Mark Totten.