Man dumps 8,500 pounds of trash in national forest

Janet Oravetz | KUSA-TV, Denver

A Telluride, Colo., man was sentenced to six months in prison after investigators say he dumped thousands of pounds of trash in the Uncompahgre National Forest over several months.

Benjamin Yoho, 41, was convicted and sentenced earlier this week following a one-day bench trial before U.S. Magistrate David L. West in Durango, Colo.

According to the Department of Justice, Yoho lived in and maintained a structure on National Forest System Lands between October 2014 and April 2015. During that time officials say Yoho transported large quantities of items to National Forest System Lands where he littered a large area near the Jud Wiebe Trail.

In May, dozens of volunteers and workers from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control removed about 8,500 pounds of debris from the forest by helicopter.

Yoho was charged and convicted of residing on National Forest System Lands, maintaining a structure on National Forest System Lands, and leaving debris on National Forest System Lands.

He was sentenced to six months in the Federal Bureau of Prisons followed by one year of probation.

As a condition of his probation, Yoho is banned from all Forest and BLM lands. The Court also recommended that Yoho receive mental health treatment while at the Federal Bureau of Prisons. The issue of restitution will be decided at a later date.

"This was no ordinary case of littering in the national forest. This was full-scale trashing of the public lands, and merited a term of incarceration," said U.S. Attorney John Walsh.