Landowner Guilty of Dumping in Ventura River : Environment: Jury agrees debris from clearing land and from a tree business altered channel’s course. Penalty could be up to three years in prison.

A Ventura County jury Wednesday convicted F. John Appel of illegally dumping debris into the Ventura River near Ojai and altering the river’s course.

The dumping of trees, boulders and other material into the river occurred on Appel’s 31-acre parcel in Oak View over a four-year period, officials said.

At one point, federal officials slapped Appel, who owns and operates Eager Beaver Tree Service, with a government order to stop dumping, which Appel ignored.

“The crime was continuing to work after they told you to cease and desist,” juror Neal B. Couey told Appel, 51, during an impromptu debate in the hallway outside the courtroom after the verdict was read.

Appel argued with Couey--as he had maintained during the three-week trial--that the land was his and not under the jurisdiction of water officials. Furthermore, Appel said he did not dump any debris into the narrow channel where the Ventura River runs most of the year.

But Couey and his 11 fellow jurors rejected that argument, saying that photographs taken by investigators showed tons of debris clogging the river itself.

Landowners must get permission from federal and state environmental officials to alter or impede waterways in the United States, prosecutors said.

But the jury did acquit Appel and his son, Jonathan A. Appel, 30, of felony conspiracy charges. Prosecutors had alleged that the two conspired to dump the debris into the river.

The jurors rejected that argument because, Couey said, they believed neither man had criminal intent when they discussed dumping the debris.

“You can’t be convicted of conspiracy if you believe what you were doing was right,” Couey said.

Appel could be sent to prison for a maximum of three years when he is sentenced next month. However, his attorney said he will ask the judge to place Appel on probation only.

Ventura County Deputy Dist. Atty. Christopher S. Harman said he will wait for the probation department to make its recommendation before arguing for a particular sentence.

Prosecutors charged Appel with violating the federal Clean Water Act after a bevy of federal and state investigators concluded last year that Appel was dumping debris into the river from land he had cleared, as well as refuse from his tree-cutting service.

The jury deliberated for nearly three days after listening to three weeks of complicated and often tedious testimony.

“This has been a remarkably complex case,” Superior Court Judge James P. Cloniger said before dismissing the jury. He also added a final admonition.

“In view of the Simpson case, you may not sell your story to the press for one year,” he said to the laughter of the jury. “Not that the National Enquirer would want to buy this story.”