Emerald indictment

1 BENJAMIN B. WAGNER United States Attorney 2 KEVIN P. ROONEY MELANIE L. ALSWORTH 3 Assistant United States Attorneys 2500 Tulare Street, Suite 4401 4 Fresno, CA 93721 Telephone: (559) 497-4000 5 Facsimile: (559) 497-4099 6 7 Attorneys for Plaintiff United States of America 8 9

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

10

EASTERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

11 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

CASE NO.

12 Plaintiff, 13 v.

14 KEITH MATTHEW EMERALD,

18 U.S.C. §1855 -- Timber Set Afire; 18 U.S.C. §1856 -- Fires Left Unattended and Unextinguished; 36 C.F.R. § 261.52(a) – Violating A Fire Restriction Order; 18 U.S.C. § 1001 – False Statement to Government Agency

15 Defendant.

16 17

INDICTMENT

18 [18 U.S.C. §1855- Timber Set Afire] 19 COUNT ONE: The Grand Jury charges: T H A T 20 KEITH MATTHEW EMERALD

21

22 Defendant herein, on or about August 17, 2013, in Tuolumne County, State and Eastern District of 23 California, did willfully and without authority set on fire timber, underbrush, grass and other 24

inflammable material upon lands owned by the United States within the Stanislaus National Forest by

25 starting a fire that eventually burned approximately 250,000 acres of land including land owned by the 26 27

United States in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park, all in violation of Title 18,

28 United States Code, Section 1855.

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INDICTMENT

1

1 COUNT TWO:

The Grand Jury charges: T H A T

2 3 4

[18 U.S.C. §1856- Fires Left Unattended and Unextinguished]

KEITH MATTHEW EMERALD Defendant herein, on or about August 17, 2013, in Tuolumne County, State and Eastern District of

5 California, did kindle a fire in or near forest, timber, and other inflammable material upon lands owned 6 7

by the United States within the Stanislaus National Forest, under weather and environmental conditions

8 such that defendant knew or reasonably should have known that there was a great risk that the fire would 9 escape his control, did permit and suffer the fire to burn or spread beyond his control, causing 10 approximately 250,000 acres of land to burn including land owned by the United States in the Stanislaus 11 National Forest and Yosemite National Park, all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 12

1856.

13 14 COUNT THREE: 15

The Grand Jury charges: T H A T

16 17

[36 C.F.R. § 261.52(a) – Violating A Fire Restriction Order]

KEITH MATTHEW EMERALD Defendant herein, on or about August 17, 2013, in Tuolumne County, State and Eastern District of

18 19 20

California, did violate ORDER NUMBER STF 2013-05 Temporary Fire Restrictions in the High Hazard Area of the Stanislaus National Forest by intentionally building, maintaining, attending, and using a fire

21 in the High Hazard Area of the Stanislaus National Forest and outside any Developed Recreational Site, 22 all in violation of 36 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 261.52(a).

23 COUNT FOUR: 24

[18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2) – False Statement to Government Agency]

The Grand Jury charges: T H A T

25 KEITH MATTHEW EMERALD 26 27

Defendant herein, on or about August 23, 2013, in Tuolumne County, State and Eastern District of

28 California, did knowingly and willfully make materially false, fictitious, and fraudulent statements and

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INDICTMENT

2

1 representations in a matter within the jurisdiction of a department or agency of the United States by 2 telling a Special Agent of the United States Forest Service, who was investigating the cause of a fire, 3

more specifically, a fire that began on or about August 17, 2013, in Tuolumne County, State and Eastern

4 District of California, and eventually burned approximately 250,000 acres of land including land owned 5 6

by the United States in the Stanislaus National Forest and Yosemite National Park; that on or about

7 August 17, 2013, he (Keith Emerald) did not set on fire any object or material of any kind including, 8 timber, underbrush, grass and other inflammable material upon lands owned by the United States within 9 the Stanislaus National Forest. The statements and representations were false because, as Keith 10 Matthew Emerald then and there knew, he had started a fire on or about August 17, 2013 in the Clavey 11

River Canyon area of the Stanislaus National Forest, in Tuolumne County, State and Eastern District of

12 California, and that fire had spread to timber, underbrush, grass and other inflammable material upon 13 14

lands owned by the United States; all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001(a)(2).

15 16

A TRUE BILL.

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_______________________________ FOREPERSON

18 19

BENJAMIN B. WAGNER 20 United States Attorney 21 By:______________________ MARK E. CULLERS, 22 Assistant U.S. Attorney Chief, Fresno Office 23 24 25 26 27 28

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INDICTMENT

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