On Thursday, June 21, Otis Backe, Jr., 58, of Reva, Va. pled guilty to operating a tree expert business without a license and false advertising or soliciting an unlicensed tree expert business.
Maryland Natural Resources Police (NRP) filed the charges in April after the Maryland Forest Service received a complaint that Backe had been working in the Davidsonville area since a winter ice storm. A check of Department records showed that Backe is not a licensed tree expert and is not working under the license of another licensee.
State law prohibits a person from soliciting, advertising or representing himself or herself to the public as a tree expert, or assuming to practice as a tree expert without having received a license. He was fined $570.