Man gets prison, fine for illegal ATV trail

Building an illegal trail and clearing trees in the Gallatin National Forest will cost a Livingston man five months in federal prison, a fine and $25,000 restitution. U.S. Magistrate Judge Carolyn Ostby today fined the defendant, Francis Leroy McLain, 60, $2,000 and ordered his prison term to run concurrently with a four-year federal sentence he is serving for tax evasion in Minnesota. McLain pleaded guilty in December to damage to government property, a misdemeanor, for trail work he did in 2006 in the South Fork drainage of McDonald Creek south of Livingston. McLain originally was indicted on a felony but agreed to admit to a misdemeanor in a plea agreement. McLain told the judge earlier he liked hiking in the forest behind his residence and thought he’d clear some blown-down trees and reduce the fire hazard...read more