Goochland County, Virginia, authorities continue to look for William Roland Massey III after he failed to surrender after the disposition of his cases in Halifax County, proceedings which were postponed because of a power outage last Wednesday.
Lieutenant James Mann of the Goochland County Sheriff's Office said in email correspondence with rrspin.com the sheriff's office has not been informed that Massey has been served with the Virginia charges.
Lieutenant Bobby Martin of the Halifax County Sheriff's Office said all the North Carolina warrants have been served Massey and they or other court officials as well as the district attorney's office have not heard from him or seen him to serve Virginia warrants.
Massey is scheduled to appear in court next Wednesday in Halifax County for 2010 timber theft charges and has a September 28 court date for charges lodged against him this year.
On August 3, the Goochland County Sheriff's Office posted a news release on its website saying Massey is wanted for his alleged involvement in facilitating bogus timber deals.
He is currently wanted for receiving $2,000 as down payment for selling timber that he does not own.
The sheriff's office reported then Massey may still be in the Metro Richmond area attempting more fraudulent deals.
WRIC in Richmond reported a sheriff's office spokesman as saying Massey targets land with absentee owners, land with titles in question or land in which taxes have not been paid.
The Virginia TV report noted the trouble the Pleasant Hill area man faces in North Carolina, most recently a case in March in which $70,000 worth of timber was illegally cut without the landowner's permission.
Massey had paperwork for some timber he was cutting in the Littleton-Roper Springs area, said Robert Smith, a law enforcement officer for the state Division of Forest Resources, in an interview with rrspin.com then.
However, the victim in the case never signed any agreements with Massey.
Smith said the landowner in the case didn’t learn of the cutting until neighbors called and asked if he was cutting timber. “I didn’t see any signs of paperwork. He (Massey) had some stuff close by but the landowner said he never signed anything.”
That arrest marked the second time he has been arrested for timber theft since last August.
The latest Halifax County Sheriff's Office arrest came after an investigation by Lieutenant Bobby Martin into the illegal cutting of more than $70,000 worth of timber from the Littleton area.
Martin charged Massey with cutting, injuring or removing another one’s timber, which is a felony.
Last August, Massey was charged with two counts of forgery of deeds or wills, two counts of cutting, injuring or removing another’s timber and one count of injury to trees, crops or land of another.
A joint investigation by the sheriff’s office, district attorney’s office and North Carolina Forest Service began in July when victims filed reports timber was cut on their land without permission.
In that case Massey had a legitimate contract to buy and have timber cut, the forest service said then.
Massey, however, also allegedly had loggers cut timber which wasn’t included in the agreement.
There was about $9,000 worth of timber cut illegally.
What led to Massey being caught in that case was someone saw decks were put down to allow machinery to move across often soft ground. The landowner was notified and the sheriff’s office was called.
It appears a deed was drawn for an heir of a property which said there was only one surviving heir, when there were several. The victim who signed the deed either did not realize there were other heirs or did not notify them.
Mann said anyone with information on Massey's whereabouts should contact the closest law enforcement agency. In Virginia anyone with information on Massey's whereabouts may contact the Goochland sheriff's office at 804-556-5349 or Metro Richmond Crimestoppers at 804-788-1000. In Halifax County they may call Crimestoppers at 252-583-4444.
