Skagit County Residents Charged with Theft of Cedar Trees

Skagit County, Washington- Several Skagit County residents have been charged with 1st degree Trafficking in Stolen Property, Malicious Mischief 2nd degree and theft 2nd degree in a case that started in November 18th,  2014.

According to a Prosecutors summery of the case, obtained through a public records request  by SkagitBreaking.com,, Paul Rogers, Damen Rogers, Kevin Nations, Michael Mundale and Keegan Nations are all being charged with varying crimes.

The five men are accused of cutting down and stealing cedar trees from a wooded property in the 24000 block of Mount Loop Highway in November of 2014.  A property owner in the area noticed two men cutting the trees on his property  and confronted them from a distance.  The affidavit states both men took off running into the woods and left behind a black Toyota Pickup.  The truck was registered to Paul Rogers.  Rogers lived about 100 yards away from where the truck was left.

Initial investigation by Deputies found that the suspects had cut down a large cedar tree and had been in the process of cutting it up when they were confronted. It was later determined the cedar tree was on US Forest Service land and had fallen onto the neighbors property when it was cut down.

The truck and other items, including a coat with a set of keys in it at the scene were seized for further investigation. While the Tow truck was leaving the scene with the truck the owner called 9-1-1 to report his truck had been stolen.  Mr. Rogers claimed that he had been working with a friend during the day and someone had stolen his truck from outside his residence while he had been gone.

On November 24th, 2014 a search warrant was granted for the pickup. A search of the truck was conducted the following day. During the search a wallet was found beneath the driver’s seat. A license in the wallet showed that it belonged to Paul Rogers.  A small bag of Methamphetamine was also found in Rogers Wallet.  Other items seized during the search were a cellular phone, a pawn slip in Paul Rogers’ name, a cedar permit issued to Paul Rogers’ father, James Rogers, and a citation and court summons for Damen Rogers.

On November 25th, around 3:50 pm Officers made contact with Paul Rogers and interviewed him regarding the cedar theft.  Paul denied knowing anything about it and continued that his truck had been stolen.   He admitted the wallet, meth and cell phone were his. He also admitted to taking four loads of cedar blocks to cedar mills in Skagit County, but claimed they were from his own property and small in size.

On December 1st, 2014, around 10 am,  Kevin Nations was contacted. He admitted the keys found in the coat were his but denied being involved in the cutting or theft of the timber.

Around 4 pm the same day, Keegan Nations was contacted and interviewed regarding the cedar theft.  Keegan Nations admitted to being involved but minimized his own involvement, and implicated Paul and Damen Rogers as the primary suspects responsible for the theft.

On December 2nd, 2014, Acuna Cedar Products were contacted by deputies and confirmed they had purchased cedar shake blocks several times from Paul Rogers, Damen Rogers and a Michael Mundale on the same cedar Permit. Two of the purchases had occurred on 11-13-14 and 11-17-14.

On December 3rd, 2014, the owner of the Cedar Mill on SR20 in Concrete was contacted regarding any cedar he had purchased from Rogers or his associates. The owner advised they had made three purchases from Paul Rogers, the last being on 11-05-14.

On December 4th, 2014, Michael Mundale was contacted in Darrington and interviewed regarding his involvement in the cedar thefts.  He admitted to being involved but also minimized his involvement and implicated Paul and Damen Rogers as the primary suspects in the thefts.

On January 1st, 2015, a search warrant was obtained for the cell phone found in the pickup that belonged to  Paul Rogers.  During a search of the phone,  text messages between Kevin Nations and Paul Rogers were found dated 11/18/14, the day of the reported theft. In one of the texts, Kevin Nations was asking Paul Rogers to “bring water please” “and your saw mine is cutting crooked.”

On January 27th, 2015 around 4:50 pm, Damen Rogers was contacted and interviewed about his involvement in the theft of cedar.  Damen Rogers admitted to his own involvement in the theft of the cedar tree, minimized his involvement and implicated Kevin Nations as the main suspect responsible for the theft.

On May 25th, 2015 around 2:40 pm, Kevin Nations was again interviewed about his involvement in the cedar theft. Kevin Nations then admitted to his own involvement in the theft, minimized his involvement and implicated Paul Rogers as the main suspect in the destruction and theft of the cedar tree.

A United State Forest Service area Measurement Specialist measured the fallen and the stolen cedar tree at the scene. The specialist, subsequently calculated the value of the cedar tree that had been cut down and destroyed at $2,579.85.  The specialist calculated the value of the amount of stolen cedar at $947.70.

The United State Forest Service is seeking restitution in the amount of $4,214.31 for the value of the destroyed tree, stolen cedar and the Specialists services.

Deputies Determined that during November 2014, Paul Rogers, Damen Rogers, Michael Mundale, Keegan Nations, and Kevin Nations all participated in the destruction and theft of a large cedar tree from U.S. Forest Service Lands.

Deputies have filed charges against  the five men on May 9th, 2016 as follows:

Paul Rogers was referred to the Prosecutor’s Office for the felony charges of Trafficking Stolen Property 1st Degree, Malicious Mischief 2nd degree, Theft 2nd Degree and Possession of a Controlled Substance-Meth.

Damen Rogers was referred to the Prosecutor’s Office for Felony Charges of Trafficking in Stolen Property 1st Degree, Malicious Mischief 2nd degree, and theft 2nd degree.

Kevin Nations, Keegan Nations and Michael Mundale were referred to the Prosecutor’s Office for Felony Charges of Conspiracy to Commit Trafficking Stolen Property 1st degree and Malicious Mischief 2nd Degree.

Below are 25 Photos of other Timber Thefts posted on Flickr by Washington State DNR: