Timber Theft Cases Hit Tennessee, North Carolina

• A Kentucky man has been ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to a Henry County (Tennessee) property owner following a timber theft investigation conducted by the Tennessee Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Crime Unit (ACU).

Following a report from a Henry County resident that several white oak trees had been cut and removed from his property without permission, ACU officials determined that James Williams Jr., of Murray, Ky., intentionally entered the landowner’s property and harvested timber.

A consulting forester determined $18,000 worth of timber had been cut and removed. Williams was charged with theft of property over $10,000 and criminal trespass. The ACU investigates agricultural-related crimes across Tennessee, including livestock theft, timber theft, equipment theft, crop theft and other offenses affecting the agricultural community. The  ACU investigated 60 cases in June 2026.

• In North Carolina, a Clayton man is facing felony charges across several counties related to the alleged theft of tens of thousands of dollars worth of timber, according to the North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS).

The individual, 55-year-old Joel Lee of Clayton, owner and operator of Frontier Timber, Inc. in Johnston County, is being charged with four counts of felony larceny of timber, three counts of felony larceny of property, one count of felony conspiracy, three counts of felony exploitation of an older or disabled adult, three counts of felony forgery of deeds or wills, seven counts of felony obtaining property by false pretenses and five counts of misdemeanor wood load tickets.

The charges cover five counties, including Wayne, Chatham, Columbus, Onslow and Pender. Multiple victims are involved, the NCFS says, and some of the charges go back to 2019.