Logger permitted to stay out of jail

HOLLIDAYSBURG - Blair County logger Francis I. Ritchey will be permitted to remain out of jail on bail until his scheduled November sentencing, according to a decision late Monday by Judge Tim Sullivan.

The decision came with a new condition - that Ritchey secure signed, dated contracts for every job he undertakes, stipulating the exact boundaries where he will be logging.

Ritchey was convicted Thurs day of the theft of almost $400,000 in timber from properties in the Altoona area and land bordering Interstate 99 near Claysburg, as well as three counts of failure to pay state income tax on $1.2 million in income over a three-year period.

Deputy Attorney General Stevan Kip Portman, of the State Attorney General's Environmental Crimes Section in Harrisburg, asked for bail revocation because he said the Claysburg logging company owner was continuing to timber mountain land without paying property owners the money they are due.

David Monahan, a Lilly property owner, testified Monday that Ritchey had been taking logs, from his land since January and not keeping up with payments.

Ritchey's attorney, Steven P. Passarello, however, said his client has paid Monahan more than $22,000 for the timber he has taken and only owes him $3,340.

Portman presented additional evidence that a civil lawsuit has been filed against Ritchey for nonpayment for timbering in Somerset County.

Sullivan ruled that those cases do not constitute new crimes, and he said Ritchey can remain out of jail on unsecured bail of $100,000. However, he told Ritchey that if he cuts down one tree illegally, he will be violating his bail, which can be revoked.

Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.