A Des Moines man is charged with stealing nearly $40,000 worth of walnut trees from federal property.
The U.S. attorney's office says 49-year-old Randall Walker is charged with five counts of theft. His trial is set for October 29th in Des Moines.
Walker is suspected of taking trees from three properties owned by the Army Corps of Engineers, including Saylorville Lake near Des Moines and Lake Red Rock in southern Iowa, and from the Neal Smith National Wildlife Reserve, east of Des Moines. Prosecutors say the thefts occurred between January and April.
Walker is also charged with stealing scrap metal from the corps' property at Lake Red Rock.
