DR1 Daily News - Dominican Republic

Juan de Mata Rodriguez Rodriguez, alias Tico, was sentenced to two years in prison and payment of a fine of RD$200,000 for illegally cutting down pine trees in Jarabacoa.

The Third Criminal Chamber of the Court of the First Instance in La Vega passed this sentence for the violations covered under Environment and Natural Resources Law 64-00.

The prosecution established that Mr. Rodriguez (Tico) had cut down the pine trees to open a path to some lands he was occupying in an illegal manner.Rodriguez will spend the first four months in jail in La Vega and the rest of his sentence will be suspended, under the condition that he will work doing community service for the Ministry of the Environment. He will also have to pay the government those RD$200,000, as well as make payments to the owner of the lands he had irregularly occupyied.