HENRY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Kentucky man must pay $15,000 in restitution after pleading guilty to aggravated trespassing in a major Henry County timber theft investigation.
According to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture, James Thomas Williams Jr. pleaded guilty in Henry County general sessions court on May 28 to a reduced charge of aggravated trespassing. Williams was initially arrested in February and extradited to Tennessee after an Agriculture Crime Unit investigation led to charges of criminal trespass and theft of property over $10,000.
“The goal in cases like this is to make the victim as whole as possible,” Agriculture Commissioner Andy Holt said. “Recovering losses for Tennessee landowners is an important part of justice.”
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The case reportedly began in January when a Henry County landowner reported several white oak trees had been cut down and taken from a landowner’s property without permission.
During the investigation, ACU Special Agent Morris Rogers determined that Williams entered the property and harvested timber…