Understanding Legal Consequences of Timber Fraudulent Sales
Hello, I’m Oklahoma City criminal defense attorney Dillan Savage of Wirth Law Office, and I practice primarily in the Oklahoma City, Oklahoma area. Today we are going to be talking about the fraudulent sale of timber. If you want more details on this, because the statute itself is quite extensive, you can go to Title 2, Section 16-63.
Now to give you a quick rundown on this statute itself, it simply states, when you break it down, that it is a legal action to knowingly and willingly be involved in fraudulent actions wherein you represent or you are involved in contracting or agreeing with individuals when you do not have the right to do so, or you have the intent to defraud these individuals.
What Constitutes Timber Fraud?
So if you are involved in a contract wherein you are selling or removing timber that is not your own, that would be the fraudulent sale of timber. Additionally, if you are a timber owner or an individual buying timber and you go out of your way to knowingly and intentionally defraud somebody by failing to pay in a timely manner, that is also a violation of this statute.
So what happens if you violate this statute? Well, you can actually be found guilty of either a felony or a misdemeanor, depending on the monetary value of the fraud that you have committed.
Penalties for Fraudulent Timber Sales
In the event that the fraudulent action has caused timber in the amount of over $200, you are going to be found guilty upon a conviction of a felony, which will result in a fine up to $10,000 or five years in prison. Or you could potentially have both of those things happen to you.
Now, in the event that the fraud is in an amount that is $200 or less, and you are convicted, you’re going to be looking at a misdemeanor, at which point you can have a fine of up to $1,000 and jail time of one year and not exceeding that year. Or you could, again, have both the fine and the jail time.
Get Legal Representation
In the event that you are facing some type of charges involving fraudulent sale of timber, I would urge you to find representation. And in the event that you are just curious about this, I would urge you to go read the statute and make sure that you never violate it, so you do not face charges of this nature.
Again, if you are involved in fraudulent actions in the sale of timber or not paying someone in a timely manner in the intent to defraud them, you could potentially be violating this statute.
Contact Us for a Low-Cost Consultation
My name is Dillan Savage and I’m the Oklahoma City felony defense attorney with Wirth Law Office. Thank you for watching. If you found this video to be helpful, or you believe it could help someone else, please go to theoklahomacityattorney.com or call us at 405-888-5400 for a low-cost consultation.
