Colorado Man Dumped 8,500 Pounds Of Trash In National Forest

He not only built an illegal home, but also dumped 8,500 pounds of trash in the Uncompahgre National Forest, say investigators. The 41-year-old Banjamin Yoho from Telluride, Colorado, has now got a sentence of six months imprisonment.

The man, identified as 41-year-old Banjamin Yoho, was convicted and sentenced earlier this week after a one-day bench trial before the U.S. Magistrate David L. West, according to USA Today.

While they searched for a wanted man on the Jude Wiebe Trail in May, the authorities uncovered "skis, ski boots, clothes on hangers in the trees, a tree house/shelter, a wedding dress" and plenty of other items.

"I think it gives homeless people, or people down on their luck, a bad name," San Miguel County Sheriff Bill Masters said. "Trash scattered over 100 yards or more. Every kind of refuse you can think of -- trash, clothing, food, human refuse, bric-a-brac, anything not tied down. Literally, tons of trash in our National Forest."

"There's a shelter, you can't even get inside, it's just packed full of trash," Masters said.

While he had been residing in the area between October 2014 and April 2015, according to the Department of Justice, he shifted a lot of objects from the Telluride "Free Box" to his living area.

In order to remove the trash from the area, about 48 employees from the Colorado Division of Fire Prevention and Control as well as volunteers helped to effect it, bringing in even a helicopter to help them, USA Today  said.

Ultimately, Yoho was found guilty of residing on National Forest System Lands, maintaining a structure and leaving debris there.

After serving his six month sentence, Yoho will be placed on probation for one year. As a condition of his probation, Yoho is banned from all forest and Bureau of Land Management lands and will also receive mental health treatment.

"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.

Later, a penalty of a stiff fine on Yoho will be implemented, according to hngn.