BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana officials say a LaSalle Parish man accused of timber thefts worth more than $100,000 was arrested in Alaska where they say he was planning to flee to Canada.
On Tuesday the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry said James Marcus Ainsworth, 39, of LaSalle Parish, was arrested in Anchorage, Alaska. Officials allege he was trying to cross the border into Canada.
Investigators say Ainsworth, his wife and daughter drove to the Chicago area in early April, put their belongings in storage and flew to Anchorage. They say he hoped to avoid prosecution by crossing the border into Canada.
Authorities say he was found after his name was placed in the National Crime Information Center. LaSalle sheriff’s deputies drove to Anchorage and brought Ainsworth back to Jena.
Ainsworth is in custody at the LaSalle Parish Detention Center on $1 million bond.
Officials said he is accused of stealing more than $100,000 worth of timber from landowners.
On Friday he was charged with a new count of timber theft for a total of nine timber theft charges in LaSalle and Catahoula parishes.
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