SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Beth Phillips, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that an Eagle Rock, Mo., man was convicted by a federal jury of destroying forest land owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Aaron Dalton, 64, of Eagle Rock, was found guilty of bulldozing and cutting down trees on federal land near the Roaring River Bridge on Table Rock Lake. Dalton owns the property adjoining the federal land.

A landscape appraiser estimated that the damage to the property caused by Dalton’s bulldozing operation was $15,000.

Following the presentation of evidence, the jury in the U.S. District Court in Springfield deliberated less than an hour before returning the guilty verdict to U.S. Magistrate Judge James C. England on Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011, ending a trial that began Monday, Sept. 26, 2011.

Under federal statutes, Dalton is subject to a sentence of up to one year in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000 and an order of restitution. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall D. Eggert. It was investigated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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