Ex-Timber Thief: Why Isn’t Hart In Jail?

John McHone has a beef with Phil Hart. McHone thinks anyone who steals timber from public lands – as Hart did to build a log home in Athol – ought to pay the penalty. “I think the (good Mr. Hart) ought to get some kind of time out of it,” McHone said – though his original comment was much saltier. “They got a lot of federal joints around here. They put me in a federal penitentiary.” Like Hart, McHone stole timber from public lands. Unlike Hart, he served a sentence for the crime: a year in the federal pen. He and a team of others were busted cutting firewood in the Nez Perce National Forest back in 2003/ Shawn Vestal , SR. More here .

Question: Do you agree with McHone that Hart deserves jail time for stealing timber from state endowment land (where revenue goes to support schools)?