Posted on 02/23/2005 9:05:16 PM PST by SmithL
REDDING, Calif. - A lost hunter who started a forest fire in northern California while trying to keep warm was ordered to pay $18.2 million in restitution Wednesday.
The fire in the Mendocino National Forest burned 6,058 acres and cost $33 million to suppress, authorities said. The restitution covers the U.S. Forest Service's cost of fighting the fire and restoring the burned area, prosecutors said.
Jason Hoskey, 26, of Willows, lit a campfire when he got lost hunting on Sept. 27, 2003. The fire spread after he fell asleep.
Flames had been banned in the area because of extreme fire danger. Prosecutors said Hoskey also violated the ban by smoking several cigarettes.
Hoskey pleaded no contest in September to a federal misdemeanor of leaving a fire burning or unattended.
Besides the restitution ordered at his sentencing, Hoskey was banned from the Mendocino National Forest for five years.
Did he write a check?
I wonder if they are going to garnish his wages for a lifetime? How come the other people that do this kind of stuff don't have to pay or pay as much? Is it cause he's 26 and he has longer to live? :) Time for this guy to go work in the fields for extra money, he's gonna have to have several jobs "americans don't want to do" to pay back that much $$.
So what would the government have paid his family if he had died from exposure??????
Good luck collecting on that one...
How much you wanna bet he declares bankruptcy next week?
Sure, $250,000 per month for six years.
If he pulls that off (bankruptcy), he'll be one lucky SOB.
whatever happened to the hunter in san diego county in the fall of 2003 that set fire to the cleveland national forest in order to be rescued?
it came down from the mountains into san diego and jumped the i-15. also killed several people.
it burned hundreds of thousands of acres. i left the county because i couldn't breathe.
And how much did they fine the forest service employee who intentionally started the forest fire in Colorado?
Not his fault, the beer made him sleepy.
Maybe he could sneak across the border INTO Mexico. He could set the fires that Mexicans don't want to set.
I would love to see the look on his face if he ever won the lottery, and had to give it all to them...after paying taxes on it.
* Preparation for camping: 150.00
* Causing a forest fire cause your lost: (under $20.00-Beer and Cigs)
*Bill for causing a forest fire: $35Million
*Loosing your SuperLotto winings to the feds because you owe: Priceless.
ludicrous
I was thinking the same thing. I don't think she even lost her job.
She got 12 years in prison, which was reduced to six because the judge sentenced her wrong.
also a $14.7 million fine.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.