In fall 2020 Indiana Conservation Officers arrested a man after he engaged in buying timber without a license from six adjoining landowners in Lawrence County during the summer of 2019. According to reports, he also failed to pay three of the landowners for logs he removed from their property.
Police arrested 65-year-old Alfred Barnes, of Switz City, on charges of corrupt business practice, fraudulent act of buying timber and theft. According to news reports, Barnes has not had a license required to purchase timber in Indiana since 1999 and has a previous conviction for a similar crime in Morgan County. In dealing with the landowners, Barnes cut more than what was agreed upon, then paid nothing or less than what was owed to the landowners.