In a surprising legal turn, a Massachusetts man accused of illegally cutting down his neighbor’s trees on Nantucket Island has seen the charges against him dismissed.

Jonathan Jacoby, 55, faced allegations of felony vandalism, trespassing, and the destruction of property after reportedly removing several trees from a neighbor’s land. The incident led to charges in July, centering around accusations from his neighbor, Patricia Belford, 80.

Belford claimed that Jacoby had unlawfully entered her property and cut down 16 trees without her consent earlier this year. These trees, which included mature cherry, cedar, and Leyland Cypress, were said to have been removed in February to enhance the ocean view from Jacoby’s own property, which he was attempting to sell.

The legal battle escalated with Belford filing a $1.4 million lawsuit against Jacoby. The lawsuit alleged that the tree removal was a calculated move aimed at increasing his property’s appeal on the market.

Jacoby faced the possibility of a three-year prison sentence. However, his attorney successfully argued for a dismissal of the case just before Jacoby was set to appear in court on October 27. This development was reported by the Nantucket Current.

Jacoby’s attorney, Jim Merberg, requested the charges be dropped after consulting with prosecutors.

Prosecutors told District Court Judge James Sullivan they would not be moving forward with the arraignment and acknowledged that Belford’s lawsuit had been moved to federal court.

In the lawsuit, Jacoby is accused of doing unauthorized landscaping to make his stunning 4,491-square-foot beach compound at 3 Tautemo Way more appealing to potential buyers.

Jonathan Jacoby, 55, got the case dismissed after he was criminally charged with cutting down his neighbors trees near Cisco Beach (pictured) in Nantucket, Massachusetts

Earlier this year, his neighbor Patricia Belford, 80, accused Jacoby of breaking onto her Nantucket property and cutting down 16 trees (Pictured: evidence of chopped trees from Belford’s lawsuit)

Nearly eight months after the alleged tree chopping, Jacoby’s property sold for $7,875,000 on October 7, over $2 million less than the whopping $9,975,000 he was asking for.

The contemporary home was put on the market in May and the property listing described it as having ‘sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean’ and Hummock Pond.

Belford and Jacoby are next-door neighbors sharing a property line, but most of the trees taken down were far from that border, she said. 

Hummock Pond, a salt-water pond on the southwestern part of Nantucket, and Cisco Beach are just fractions of a mile away from Tautemo Way.

And the only things inhibiting those ‘sweeping views’ of the nearby bodies of water were apparently the trees the Belfords planted in the 1970s.

Belford argued the trees added not only privacy, but value to her home – with a nursey estimating they each could cost thousands of dollars. 

‘Based on the number of trees removed, the replacement cost alone exceeds $486,000,’ the document stated.

Belford (1 Tautemo Way) and Jacoby (3 Tautemo Way) are next-door neighbors sharing a property line, but Belford claimed Jacoby cut down trees far from the border

Belford claimed Jacob cut down the trees ‘with the specific purpose of improving the ocean view from his own property’ – which he was trying to sell

Jacoby’s property sold for $7,875,000 on October 7. The listing description said the contemporary home has ‘sweeping views of the Atlantic Ocean’ and Hummock Pond (pictured)

‘This does not account for the historic value, loss of screening, increased noise, reduction in overall property value.

‘Jacoby’s actions were not only economically damaging but also emotionally devastating for Belford.’

In his response to Belford’s lawsuit, Jacoby denied any wrongdoing and insisted that he had permission to chop down the trees and had done approved landscaping for his neighbor before.

‘Jacoby had permission to remove the trees in question, just as he had permission to remove, and did remove, without complaint or question, two other trees on the same property on a previous occasion,’ his filing said.

The next court hearing for the federal lawsuit is scheduled for April 6, 2026.