A Randle man convicted in U.S. District Court in 2016 for poaching maple wood from the Gifford Pinchot National Forest was arrested Friday for allegedly violating his federal probation, fleeing from Lewis County law enforcement in August 2022 and for allegedly drugging a woman, raping her and abandoning her in the woods near Randle in September 2022.
A Lewis County Superior Court judge set bail for Ryan Anthony Justice, 35, of Randle, at $200,000 for each of the two Lewis County cases on Tuesday, June 20, after Justice refused to appear in court for his preliminary hearing that afternoon.
A no-bail hold is in place for the federal probation violation case.
Justice is accused of fleeing from a Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy who located him in a parking lot on 9018 U.S. Highway 12 in Randle on Aug. 2 and attempted to arrest him on a warrant for the federal probation violation.
The deputy had received a tip from a citizen that Justice was in the parking lot, but did not see him there when he arrived, according to court documents.
While parked in the lot, however, the deputy “observed a white Jaguar back up and then drive straight toward (the deputy’s) side door,” according to court documents.
As the vehicle approached, the deputy was able to see into the vehicle and identify Justice as the driver and sole occupant of the Jaguar.
The deputy reportedly “watched as Justice sat in the vehicle and stared at him,” according to court documents.
The deputy exited his vehicle and approached the Jaguar, at which point Justice allegedly “revved the engine” and, ignoring verbal commands to stop the vehicle, “reversed the engine and took off at a high rate of speed on a small dirt road,” according to court documents.
The deputy pursued the Jaguar, which was traveling around 100 mph, eastbound onto U.S. Highway 12 into Randle until it began driving into oncoming traffic, at which point the deputy disengaged.
Attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle and failure to obey a law enforcement officer charges were filed in Lewis County Superior Court on Aug. 17. A $100,000 arrest warrant was issued that same day. Attempting to elude is a class C felony punishable by up to five years in prison and failure to obey a law enforcement officer is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 90 days in prison.
About a month later, on Sept. 11, 2022, law enforcement responded to a report that Justice had allegedly given a woman drugs, raped her and then drove her out to the woods near Randle and left her there.
A citizen on a hunting trip was driving down Forest Road 25 toward state Route 131 near Randle on Sept. 11 when he reportedly observed a woman, who had what the citizen described as a “blurred look,” walking on the roadway. The citizen asked if she needed help and she didn’t answer, so he drove away, according to court documents.
Later that day, the same citizen was driving back up the road and saw the woman lying near the road. He stopped and again asked if she needed help, but “the woman was incoherent and not making any sense,” according to court documents. The citizen called 911 and tried to help her into his truck, but she reportedly left to go lay in the grass and then walked into a stranger’s residence in the 100 block of Skinner Road, where she laid down on a couch. A Lewis County Sheriff’s Office deputy contacted the woman at that residence. When asked what was going on, “the woman said ‘Ry-Ry’ gave her some ‘shrooms’ and she wasn’t feeling well,” according to court documents.
The deputy reportedly “knew from his law enforcement experience in Lewis County that Ry-Ry was a nickname for Ryan Anthony Justice,” according to court documents.
Medical aid was called to treat the woman for an apparent overdose and she was ultimately transferred to Providence Centralia Hospital.
While at the hospital, the woman reportedly disclosed that she had been raped.
Justice had reportedly asked the woman if she wanted to “drive around and get some beer,” which they did, but then Justice reportedly asked her “if he could run to his house. She said that was fine,” according to court documents.
Upon arriving at Justice’s trailer in the Cispus area, Justice allegedly “pulled a handful of ‘shrooms’ and told her to take them, which she did,” according to court documents. He then allegedly gave her an alcoholic beverage to “wash the shrooms down.”
A short time later, the woman reportedly told Justice she wanted to leave. Justice then allegedly “grabbed her, pulled her into the bed and held her down by her arms” before raping her, according to court documents.
Then, “out of nowhere, Justice got a phone call” and “stopped what he was doing to answer the call,” according to court documents. The woman again told Justice she needed to leave, “and he said that was fine,” found his car keys and allegedly drove the woman out to a forested area, where he stopped.
“She got out and started walking down the road. Justice drove away,” according to court documents. The woman told law enforcement she tried flagging down motorists, but was only contacted by the hunter who ultimately called 911.
Justice was charged with one count of second-degree rape, a class A felony punishable by up to life in prison, in Lewis County Superior Court on Oct. 11. A $50,000 arrest warrant was issued that same day.
Justice was booked into the Lewis County Jail on the outstanding Lewis County Superior Court warrants at 11:50 a.m. on Friday, June 16, according to jail records.
Arraignment on the Lewis County cases is scheduled for Thursday, June 29.
The 2016 federal conviction stems from a July 2015 case where Justice and two co-defendants, James Michael Miller of Morton, and Kevin James Mullins of Packwood, were charged for harvesting maple trees approximately 50 times in 2011 and 2012 and selling them to the Winlock-based company J&L Tonewoods, owned by Harold Clause Kupers, who was also charged.
Justice, Miller and Mullins visited the Gifford Pinchot National Forest to check trees for figured maple characteristics, used axes to expose wood at the base of the trees, then returned to the forest at night to harvest the trees, according to the previous Chronicle reporting. Kupers and his company were accused of selling the wood to other companies both inside and outside of Washington for more than $800,000.
All four parties entered guilty pleas and were sentenced in U.S. District Court in 2016.
The case was notable for being the first time a court has prosecuted someone for violating the Lacey Act for trading illegal wood products in the boundaries of the U.S., according to previous Chronicle reporting.
