Environmental Crimes Bulletin - December 2024
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In This Issue:
Cases by District/Circuit
Guilty Pleas
United States v. All Out Diesel, et al.
- No. 4:24-CR-00626 (Eastern District of Montana)
- AUSA Dianna Edwards
On December 4, 2024, All Out Diesel, LLC, and company owner Joseph Easter pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act (CAA) for illegally tampering with a monitoring device (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)). Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2025.
Truck owners who have removed (or “deleted”) their vehicle’s factory-installed emission control devices need devices that carry electronic files/software coding ("tunes") designed to override the vehicle's original computer programming. All Out Diesel custom altered tunes and sold them throughout the United States. The defendants’ tunes enabled deleted trucks to operate without emission control devices.
Between October 2019 and March 2020, the defendants knowingly falsified, tampered with, and rendered inaccurate at least 75 monitoring devices that were required to be maintained under the CAA.
This case was investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division.
United States v. Johnnie Lee Nelson
- No. 1:23-CR-00787 (District of New Jersey)
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy
- AUSA Michelle Goldman
On December 6, 2024, Johnnie Lee Nelson pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess, train, and transport dogs for an animal fighting venture and to sponsor and exhibit dogs in an animal fighting venture (7 U.S.C. § 2156(a)(1), 2156(b); 18 U.S.C. § 371).
This case centers on a dog fighting event that occurred on March 23, 2019, at an auto body garage in Upper Deerfield Township, New Jersey. Officers responding to a 911 call found a fighting pit in the garage, along with two fatally injured pit bull-type dogs, still fighting, that had been placed into an inoperable car on a lift in the garage as the participants fled on foot. Officers also found an uninjured pit bull-type dog in a car just outside the garage, along with a do-it-yourself veterinary suture and skin staple kit in a bag.
Evidence revealed that Nelson’s co-defendant Tommy Watson organized the fight, and that their dog was destined for the next fight on deck. Nelson and Watson were part of a dog fighting operation they called “From Da Bottom Kennels.” They jointly possessed and trained the surviving dog for that dog fight, as shown by cell phone video evidence. “From Da Bottom Kennels” and others live-streamed dog fight videos through Telegram from that garage.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.
United States v. Russell Milis
- No. 24-CR-00232 (Eastern District of New York)
- ECS Trial Attorney Elise Kent Bernanke
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors
- ECS Law Clerk Tonia Sibblies
On December 10, 2024, Russell Milis pleaded guilty to one count of Lacey Act false labeling for shipping hundreds of protected turtles from New York to China (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(1), 3373(d)(3)(A)(i)). Milis is scheduled for sentencing on May 28, 2025.
Milis and others shipped protected species of turtles, including the eastern box turtle and three-toed box turtle, to Hong Kong and China for the pet trade. Between 2019 and 2020, Milis shipped almost 400 turtles, worth approximately $700,000 on the black market.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
United States v. Jose Correa
- No. 1:24-CR-00685 (Southern District of New York)
- AUSA Alexandra Rothman
On December 11, 2024, Jose Correa pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act for negligently releasing asbestos into the ambient air (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(4)). Sentencing is scheduled for April 10, 2025.
Between November and December 2022, Correa removed asbestos-containing floor tiles and mastic from a supermarket in Manhattan without hiring an asbestos abatement contractor. Instead, the material was removed by construction workers who were not provided with protective gear, thereby releasing asbestos into the ambient air and placing the workers in imminent danger of death and serious bodily injury.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Jesus Allen Stephens
- No. 2:24-CR-00008 (Eastern District of Texas)
- ECS Trial Attorney Sarah Brown
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy
- AUSA Jim Noble
- ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer
On December 12, 2024, Jesus Allen Stephens pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to participating in a major dog fighting event and possessing fighting dogs (7 U.S.C. § 2156; 18 U.S.C. §§ 49, 371).
On November 13, 2021, Stephens organized and hosted a large-scale dog fighting event on family-owned property in Harrison County, Texas. Prior to the event, Stephens announced a series of up to 14 matches and sending directions to the property to multiple individuals.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Harrison County Sherrif’s office conducted the investigation.
United States vs. Sai Keung Tin (aka Ricky Tin)
- No. 2:24-CR-00161 (Central District of California)
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors
- ECS Trial Attorney Lauren Steele
- AUSA Dennis Mitchell
- ECS Law Clerk Maria Wallace
- ECS Law Clerk Tonia Sibblies
On December 13, 2024, Sai Keung Tin, aka Ricky Tin, pleaded guilty to smuggling wildlife (18 U.S.C. § 554). Sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2025. Wildlife authorities arrested Tin (a Chinese citizen residing in Hong Kong) in February 2024 when he arrived at JFK Airport.
Since approximately 2017, Tin has coordinated the smuggling of protected turtles from the United States to mainland China for the illegal pet trade. Most recently, in 2023, he arranged to ship more than 40 parcels from the Los Angeles area to Hong Kong. He traveled to the United States to meet with suppliers and planned to smuggle more turtles to China.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.
United States v. Pavel Ivanovich Turlak, et al.
- No. 2:24-CR-00057 (Eastern District of Washington)
- AUSA Dan Fruchter
- AUSA Jacob Brooks
- RCEC Gwendolyn Brooks
On December 13, 2024, Pavel Ivanovich Turlak, and his Spokane-based trucking companies--PT Express, LLC, Spokane Truck Service, LLC, and Pauls Trans, LLC--pleaded guilty to conspiring to illegally violate Clean Air Act (CAA) emissions controls and to fraudulently obtaining hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief funding (42 U.S.C. § 7413 (c)(2)(C);18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1343, 287). Turlak and his businesses are scheduled for sentencing on April 2, 2025.
Between August 2017 and November 2023, Turlak purchased illegal “delete tune” packages from Ryan Hugh Milliken and his company, Hardaway Solutions, LLC. They designed this software to disable and defeat required emissions controls and monitoring systems. Turlak loaded the delete tunes into his own trucks used in his businesses, as well as trucks of co-conspirators who were customers of Spokane Truck Service, LLC. Milliken created and sold custom software delete tunes to Turlak for vehicles based on specifications Turlak outlined. Turlak then charged as much as $3,500 to diesel truck owners to “delete” and “tune” their vehicles by tampering with their pollution monitoring devices.
In addition to violating the CAA, Turlak fraudulently obtained hundreds of thousands of dollars in COVID-19 relief funding. Between March 2020 and August 2021, Turlak falsely and fraudulently applied for and received more than $300,000 in federal funding that was designated to go to eligible small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic. Turlak and his businesses were not eligible to receive this funding due to their ongoing participation in this criminal conspiracy.
Milliken and Hardaway Solutions pleaded guilty in November 2024 to conspiracy and to violating the CAA (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)). Sentencing is scheduled for January 22, 2025.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation with assistance from the EPA National Enforcement Investigations Center, the Small Business Administration Office of Inspector General, and the Spokane Police Department.
United States v. Fredricus White, et al.
- No. 1:24-CR-00005 (Middle District of Georgia)
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy
- ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer
On December 16, 2024, Herman Buggs pleaded guilty to conspiracy for his role in a large-scale dog fight in 2022 (18 U.S.C. § 371). Co-defendants Fredricus White, Brandon Baker, Rodrecus Kimble, Tamichael Elijah, Timothy Freeman, Gary Hopkins and Marvin Pulley entered guilty pleas in November 2024 for participating in this dog fight that law enforcement disrupted while in progress on April 24, 2022, in Donalsonville, Georgia. White and Baker pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to possessing and transporting a dog for animal fighting purposes. Freeman pleaded guilty to being a spectator at the event, and Kimble, Elijah, Hopkins, and Pulley pleaded guilty to conspiracy (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 49; 7 U.S.C. § 2156(a)(1), (b)).
Prosecutors charged a total of 14 defendants who traveled to this event from across southwest Georgia, Alabama, and Florida to fight their dogs. Agents recovered 27 dogs, including 22 who were found in cars on the scene and had either already been fought, or whose handlers were awaiting their turn in the pit. Agents found one dog still in the fighting pit, who later succumbed to his injuries, as well as others living on the property who were owned by the event host.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Seminole County, Georgia, Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation.
United States v. Jonathan Long
- No. 2:22-CR-00139 (Eastern District of Virginia)
- AUSA Joseph Kosky
On December 17, 2024, Jonathan Long pleaded guilty to one count of accessory after-the-fact to falsifying, tampering with, and rendering inaccurate a monitoring device required by the Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C); 18 U.S.C. § 3). Sentencing is scheduled for April 25, 2025.
Long owned and operated Open Wide Performance, LLC, selling “aftermarket defeat devices” for diesel trucks. Long works as a diesel technician and is an active-duty member of the U.S. Navy, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia.
Between 2019 and 2020, Long sold "delete kits," including delete pipes, software, cables, and tunes. Long also helped his customers use this equipment to manipulate their diesel truck’s onboard diagnostic system. During this period, Long earned approximately $300,000 from this criminal enterprise.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Tribar Technologies, Inc.
- No. 2:24-CR-20552 (Eastern District of Michigan)
- ECS Senior Counsel Kris Dighe
- AUSA Karen Reynolds
On December 18, 2024, Tribar Technologies, Inc. (Tribar), pleaded guilty to negligently violating a pretreatment standard under the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1317(d) and 1319(c)(1)(A)). Sentencing is scheduled for March 19, 2025.
Tribar manufactures automobile parts and presently operates five active plants in southeast Michigan. Plant 5 is a chrome plating facility located in Wixom, Michigan. It uses an electroplating process to apply chrome finishing to plastic automotive parts. Plant 5 generates wastewater that contains chromium compounds, including hexavalent chromium. Hexavalent chromium is a known carcinogen.
On July 23, 2022, Plant 5 accumulated approximately 15,000 gallons of untreated wastewater containing high concentrations of hexavalent chromium. This wastewater had higher levels of pollutants than the wastewater typically generated from Plant 5 operations. During the week beginning July 25, 2022, employees at Plant 5 attempted to treat this wastewater in a holding tank to reduce the amount of hexavalent chromium before putting it into the Plant 5 wastewater treatment system. By the end of the week, the wastewater still contained high concentrations of hexavalent chromium.
On July 29, 2022, an employee discharged approximately 10,000 gallons of insufficiently treated wastewater from the holding tank into the Plant 5 wastewater treatment system. This discharge activated wastewater treatment system alarms, indicating that the wastewater required further treatment before it could be discharged to the Wixom sanitary sewer system. This employee disabled approximately 460 alarms and discharged the wastewater to the Wixom sanitary sewer system and ultimately to the Wixom POTW without completing the treatment necessary to remove chromium from the wastewater, as required by Tribar’s Industrial Pretreatment Program Permit.
Tribar did not report the discharge of untreated wastewater to Wixom until approximately 12:23pm on August 1, 2022, but claimed in writing that it had reported the discharge by 8:30 am on that day.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division; the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.
United States v. Fernando Cruz Rubio, et al.
- Nos. 3:24-CR-00101, 00116 (Northern District of Florida)
- ECS Deputy Chief Joseph Poux
- Former ECS Trial Attorney Joel LaBissonniere
- ECS Paralegal Jonah Fruchtman
On December 20, 2024, Fernando Cruz Rubio pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) for failing to maintain an oil record book (ORB) (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a)). Sentencing is scheduled for February 20, 2025.
Rubio worked as a chief engineer onboard the M/V Suhar, a Panamanian-flagged ocean-going bulk carrier that routinely hauled cement from Tampico, Mexico, to Pensacola, Florida. The ship was managed by Gremex Shipping S.A. de C.V., which was responsible for the ship’s day-to-day operations, including hiring all crew and ensuring compliance with environmental and international regulations.
The Coast Guard inspected the ship when it arrived in Pensacola on August 25, 2023. Inspectors determined that the vessel’s crew regularly discharged untreated oily bilge water overboard, bypassing onboard pollution control equipment, and falsified the ship’s ORB to conceal these discharges. On various trips between March 2021 through August 25, 2023, Rubio, as the Suhar’s chief engineer, failed to accurately maintain the ORB and did not record overboard discharges of bilge water.
Gremex was sentenced in October 2024 to pay a $1.75 million fine, serve a four-year term of probation, and implement an environmental compliance plan. The shipping corporation also pleaded guilty to violating APPS.
The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service conducted the investigation.
Sentencings
United States v. Daniel Brett
- No. 2:24-CR-00037 (District of Utah)
- AUSA Ruth Hackford-Peer
On December 2, 2024, a court sentenced Daniel Brett to pay $40,000 in restitution to an unnamed victim. Brett pleaded guilty to a Clean Air Act negligent endangerment violation (42 U.S.C. §§ 7413(c)(4)).
Brett was part owner of the Broadway Hotel, which a developer purchased for redevelopment. Brett and his co-owner knew the hotel, a 21,000 square foot structure built in 1909, contained asbestos in numerous locations, including in thermal system/boiler insulation, wall plaster, rolled vinyl flooring, and roofing materials. A third party provided the previous owner with an environmental assessment survey in 2011. The third party advised the owner to conduct a comprehensive asbestos survey, but he failed to do so.
Following a fire in July 2020, the hotel had to be demolished. Brett and his co-owner solicited bids from potential demolition companies, choosing a proposal that required the owners to dispose of any asbestos-containing material themselves. In December 2020, workers proceeded with the demolition without proper safety equipment. After the company completed the demolition, Brett left the Broadway Hotel debris pile on site, where it remained uncovered for approximately fifteen months. Following the death of the co-owner in May 2021, Brett became fully responsible for the demolition.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency initiated an emergency clean-up operation in February 2022, removing approximately 3,000 tons of asbestos-containing debris at a cost to the agency of $1.1 million.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Highway and Heavy Parts, et al.
- Nos. 1:24-CR-00124, 1:21-CR-00016 (Northern District of New York)
- AUSA Benjamin Clark
On December 3, 2024, a court sentenced Highway and Heavy Parts, LLC (HHP), to pay a $25,000 fine, after pleading guilty to conspiring to tamper with a required monitoring device in violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) (18 U.S.C. § 371). Co-defendant Kyle Offringa pleaded guilty to the same offense and is scheduled for sentencing on March 21, 2025.
Between June 2017 and March 2019, HHP and Offringa conspired with a diesel truck operator, and others, including co-conspirators Daim Logistics, Inc., and Patrick Oare to remove, delete, and tamper with monitoring devices that were required under the CAA to be installed on heavy-duty diesel trucks. Truck operators delete the emissions control hardware on heavy-duty diesel trucks to allow them to run at higher horsepower, with greater fuel efficiency, and with reduced maintenance costs. HHP charged its customers a fee for Offringa to reprogram the vehicle’s on-board detection equipment so regulators would not discover the tampering. Customers paid HHP between $1,250 and $1,750 for each truck Offringa altered.
Oare and Daim Logistics were sentenced in November 2024 for tampering with a monitoring device or method in violation of the CAA (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)). Oare was sentenced to time served and to pay a $15,000 fine; the company will pay a $13,000 fine. In addition, prior to sentencing, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation monitored Daim for approximately 18 months to ensure the company complied with all applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations regarding the emission control devices installed on diesel vehicles owned or operated by the company.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police.
United States v. Valley Property Partners, LLC, d/b/a “House Dudes”, et al.
- No. 3:24-CR-00117 (District of North Dakota)
- AUSA Jonathan O’Konek
On December 3, 2024, a court sentenced Valley Property Partners LLC (VPP), d/b/a “House Dudes,” for violating the Toxic Substances Control Act for failing to provide a home purchaser with lead-based paint disclosures (15 U.S.C. §§ 2615(b)(1), 2689). VPP will pay a $10,000 fine, complete a one-year term of probation, perform 50 hours of community service, and pay $4,275 in restitution to the North Dakota Department of Human Services. The company also will post a notice on its website about the harmful effects of lead-based paint exposure and its required obligations to home buyers pertaining to lead-based paint.
On October 16, 2019, real estate company VPP sold a home built prior to 1978, but failed to provide the buyer with lead-based paint disclosures. In April 2022, medical personnel diagnosed two young children living at the residence with elevated blood lead levels. In June 2022, the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality inspected the residence and found lead-based paint in multiple areas of the home, including the children’s playroom.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality.
United States v. Elite Diesel Service Inc., et al.
- No. 1:24-CR-00118 (District of Colorado)
- AUSA Rebecca S. Weber
- SAUSA Linda S. Kato
On December 5, 2024, a court sentenced Elite Diesel Service Inc., and company owner Troy Lake, Sr., after pleading guilty to conspiring to violate the Clean Air Act (CAA) by disabling the monitoring components of the emissions control systems on hundreds of heavy-duty commercial trucks throughout the country (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)). Eight co-conspirators located in seven different states had previously been sentenced for their role in the conspiracy.
Elite will pay a $50,000 fine, complete a five-year term of probation, and enact a corporate compliance program. The company also will make a $12,500 community service payment to the Colorado Department of Public Health and the Environment. This payment will be used to repair the emissions control systems on vehicles owned by low-income drivers who cannot afford to bring their vehicles into compliance. Company owner Troy Lake, Sr., will serve a year and a day of incarceration and pay a $2,500 fine.
This investigation involved multiple companies that tampered with diesel truck emissions control systems. Three of Elite and Lake’s co-defendants own garages and/or fleets of trucks in three different states: Pro Diesel, Inc., is located in Des Moines, Iowa; McDermid is located in Oconto Falls, Wisconsin; and Endrizzi Diesel, LLC, operates out of Bolivar, Missouri. The companies disabled hardware emission controls (including diesel particulate filters and catalytic converters) on Class 8 heavy duty semi-trucks.
To complete the process, they hired Elite, a garage located in Colorado that specialized in remotely “tuning,” or overriding, vehicles’ on-board diagnostic (OBD) computer software systems. Troy Lake co-owned and operated Elite. OBD functions include monitoring hardware emission controls on vehicles to ensure proper operations. As such, OBDs qualify as “monitoring devices” under the CAA. The co-defendants tampered with monitoring devices by hiring Elite to tune the OBDs, preventing them from detecting emission control malfunctions. In total, the defendants manipulated the OBDs on 126 vehicles.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Colorado Office of the Attorney General conducted the investigation.
United States v. Matthew Thurman, et al.
- No. 3:24-CR-00014 (District of Nevada)
- Former ECS Trial Attorney Matt Evans
- AUSA Andrew Keenan
On December 10, 2024, a court sentenced Matthew Thurman and Environmental Resources, Inc., d/b/a Easy Rooter Plumbing (ERP), for illegally discharging waste into a publicly owned treatment works (POTW) in violation of the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1317(d), 1319(c)(2)(A); 18 U.S.C. § 2(b))
Thurman, the general manager for ERP, was ordered to serve two years’ incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay a $680,000 fine. ERP was sentenced to complete a three-year term of probation and pay an additional $680,000 fine.
ERP provided restaurant waste removal services, including grease interceptor servicing in and around Reno, Nevada. Between March 2019 and August 2021, the company defendant collected grease wastes from food-service businesses and pumped them down manholes or into the grease traps of other customers. Local regulators warned ERP and Thurman regarding the illegal discharges, but when the scheme continued, the Environmental Protection Agency opened an investigation. During the investigation, Thurman lied to federal agents and falsely blamed competitors for the illegal discharges.
During this period, the defendants repeatedly and illegally discharged grease and wastewater into a POTW on at least 68 days, usually several times each day.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation with assistance from the City of Reno’s Utility Services Department-Environmental Control and the City of Sparks’s Environmental Control Section.
United States v. Quality Poultry and Seafood, et al.
- Nos. 24-CR-00045, 00046, 00088 (Southern District of Mississippi)
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Jeremy Korzenik
- AUSA Andrea Jones
- ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris
On December 11, 2024, a court sentenced Quality Poultry and Seafood (QPS), sales manager Todd A. Rosetti, and James W. Gunkel for conspiracy and misbranding seafood. QPS will pay a $500,000 fine, complete a five-year term of probation and forfeit $1,000,000 to the U.S. Marshals Service. According to the terms of probation, QPS is required to maintain, for periodic inspection, records describing the species and volume of fish it purchases and sells. Rosetti will serve eight months incarceration followed by 180 days of house arrest, one year of supervised release, and will perform 100 hours of community service. Gunkel will pay a $1,000 fine, serve a two-year term of probation to include 12 months’ home detention, and perform 50 hours of community service.
QPS sells poultry and seafood to several hundred Mississippi-area restaurants, casinos, and grocery stores, and operates its own retail market and cafe. It is the largest seafood distributor on the Mississippi Gulf coast. From 2002 through 2019, QPS sold mislabeled seafood to its retail customers. QPS also sold its wholesale customers fish that QPS either fraudulently mislabeled or offered to restaurants as convincing substitutes for the preferred local species, which the restaurants advertised, identified in their menus, and charged their customers for serving. For more than a year following the execution of a search warrant, QPS continued to sell frozen fish imported from Africa, South America, and India for use as substitutes for premium local species.
QPS pleaded guilty to conspiring to misbrand food with the intent to defraud and using interstate wire transmissions to facilitate the sale of misbranded fish (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1343; 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(k), 333(a)(2)). Rosetti and Gunkel pleaded guilty to seafood misbranding (21 U.S.C. §§ 331(k), 343(a), (b), 333(a)(1)).
Co-defendants Mary Mahoney's Old French House restaurant (Mahoney's) and co-owner Charles Cvitanovich previously pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme. Mahoney’s was sentenced in November 2024 to pay a $149,000 fine and $1,350,000 in forfeiture. The company also will complete a five-year term of probation. Cvitanovich was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and complete a three-year term of probation, to include four months’ home detention.
Between December 2013 and November 2019, Mahoney’s and co-conspirators fraudulently sold approximately 58,750 pounds (more than 29 tons) of fish that was frozen and imported from Africa, India, and South America as premium local species. Between 2018 and 2019, Cvitanovich mislabeled approximately 17,190 pounds of fish sold at the restaurant. QPS supplied seafood to Mahoney’s and many other restaurants and retailers.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation.
United States v. Waner Balbuena, et al.
- No. 3:24-CR-00174 (District of Puerto Rico)
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan
- AUSA Seth Erbe
On December 12, 2024, a court sentenced Waner Balbuena to a year and one day of incarceration, followed by three years’ supervised release. Frankluis Carela De Jesús and Domingo Heureau Altagracia are scheduled for sentencing on March 6, 2025. Juan Graviel Ramírez Cedano was recently sentenced to one year and one day of incarceration followed by three years’ supervised release. All pleaded guilty to Lacey Act trafficking and smuggling wildlife from the United States (18 U.S.C. § 554; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), (a)(4), 3373(d)(1)(B)).
On May 3, 2024, the four Dominican nationals traveled in a flagless vessel departing from San Juan, Puerto Rico, to the Dominican Republic. They intended to smuggle various species of tropical birds to the Dominican Republic for financial gain. When the vessel was approximately 30 nautical miles north of Puerto Rico, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) approached the vessel and witnessed the crew throwing objects overboard. Following the boarding of the vessel, USCG authorities recovered several of the objects thrown overboard, identified as wooden cages containing tropical birds. Approximately 113 birds drowned after the defendants jettisoned the cages.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Coast Guard, and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation.
United States v. Domermuth Environmental Services, LLC, et al.
- No. 3:24-CR-00075 (Eastern District of Tennessee)
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Matthew Morris
- AUSA Jeremy Dykes
- ECS Paralegal Jillian Grubb
On December 12, 2024, a court sentenced Domermuth Environmental Services, LLC, (DES) to pay a $50,000 fine and complete a three-year term of probation. Operations Vice President Christopher J. Domermuth will complete a one-year term of probation. The defendants pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act for knowingly discharging pollutants into a water of the United States without a permit (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1319(c)(2)(A)).
On July 16, 2018, a pole cam installed on a neighboring property recorded Domermuth and DES employees using a portable pump to pump petroleum-contaminated wastewater over a wall and into a ditch that flowed into the Holston River, a tributary of the Tennessee River, without a permit. On July 26, 2018, a pole camera installed on property adjacent to the DES facility filmed workers rolling over a previously exhumed underground storage tank, which spilled a mixture of petroleum and water onto a concrete pad at the facility. The workers, including Christopher Domermuth, threw absorbent pads into the spilled mixture and then used a portable pump to pump the oily mixture over a retaining wall at DES. The oily mixture flowed over a neighboring property and into a culvert leading to the Holston River.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the EPA Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Valley Authority Office of Inspector General, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation conducted the investigation
United States v. Thomas J. Nash
- No. 1:24-CR-00107 (District of Montana)
- AUSA Colin Rubich
On December 12, 2024, a court sentenced Thomas J. Nash to pay a $250,000 fine and complete a five-year term of probation. Nash pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act (CAA) for developing and selling software devices and kits to circumvent emissions monitoring systems for at least 845 diesel trucks (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)).
Between 2019 and 2021, Nash, through his businesses, DRK and Flash Performance, tampered with CAA monitoring devices by developing, marketing, and selling software known as “tunes.” When downloaded onto a vehicle’s computer, these tunes would override and disable the on-board diagnostic system (OBD) to prevent it from detecting malfunctions in the emissions control system. Nash loaded his tunes onto a device known as a “tuner” that plugged into a vehicle’s on-board diagnostic port, establishing a connection to download the tune.
Nash also packaged the tuners with devices, such as “straight pipes,” which are used to disable vehicles’ emissions control hardware. Nash sold these packages as DRK “delete kits” on eBay. Nash specifically marketed these delete kits as a way to circumvent the emissions control system in diesel trucks. After installation, the hardware and tunes rendered the OBD ineffective, causing the vehicle to release more pollution. Nash also provided ongoing technical assistance to customers who purchased the kits.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Frederick D. Moorefield, Jr.
- No. 23-CR-00354 (District of Maryland)
- AUSA Alexander Levin
- AUSA Darryl Tarver
On December 13, 2024, a court sentenced Frederick D. Moorefield, Jr., to 18 months’ incarceration and six months’ home detention, followed by three years of supervised release. Moorfield also will pay a $20,000 fine and forfeit $21,576. Moorefield pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in animal fighting, specifically dog fighting, and interstate travel in aid of racketeering (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1852(a)(3)).
Federal agents began investigating Moorefield’s connections to dogfighting after officers from Anne Arundel County Animal Control responded to a report of two dead dogs found in a plastic dog food bag in Annapolis, Maryland, in November 2018. Investigators found mail addressed to Moorefield inside the bag, and a necropsy determined that the dogs bore wounds and scarring patterns consistent with dogfighting.
Moorefield was affiliated with a dogfighting enterprise known as the “DMV Board,” which operated in and around Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, D.C. Numerous other members of the DMV Board have been convicted on dogfighting charges in the Eastern District of Virginia. For more than 20 years, Moorefield operated under the kennel name “Geehad Kennels” and used his home in Arnold, Maryland, to keep, train, and breed dogs for dogfighting.
Investigators found ample evidence of messages exchanged between Moorfield and others arranging fights and discussing other details related to dog fighting with other members of the DMV Board.
For example, when Moorefield sponsored a dog in a fight, the fight ended only when a dog died or when the owner forfeited the match—either through the dog “quitting” the fight or the owner “picking up” the dog. If one of Moorefield’s dogs lost a fight but did not die, Moorefield killed that dog.
Between January 2019 and October 2023, Moorefield sent and received monetary payments through CashApp related to his participation in dogfighting. In some instances, transactions were given misleading labels to disguise the true nature of the transferred money. In one 2022 transaction Moorefield received $1,000 labeled as a “housewarming gift” from a known dogfighter, even though Moorefield has lived at the same address for over two decades.
When agents searched Moorefield’s residence on September 6, 2023, they recovered five pitbull-type dogs from large metal cages in a windowless room of Moorefield’s basement. Agents also found several containers of animal medication, dog food, and other equipment consistent with dogfighting.
When interviewed by agents, Moorefield falsely stated that he had only recently obtained four of the five dogs found on the property. At the time Moorefield was charged in this case, he worked as the Deputy Chief Information Officer for Command, Control, and Communications for the Office of the Secretary of Defense.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of the Inspector General, the Defense Criminal Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, the Anne Arundel County Police Department, and Anne Arundel County Animal Control, conducted the investigation.
United States v. Wan Yee Ng
- No. 2:24-CR-00084 (District of Vermont)
- AUSA Thomas Aliberti
- ECS Senior Counsel Elinor Colbourn
On December 13, 2024, a court sentenced Chinese national Wan Yee Ng to six months’ time served. Ng also will pay $5,000 in restitution to the State of New Jersey. Ng pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle eastern box turtles, a protected species, from the United States to Canada (18 U.S.C. § 554). As part of sentencing, Ng will pay an additional $3,480 to care for the turtles.
U.S. Border Patrol agents began surveilling Ng during the spring of 2024, after she rented lodging from a facility near the Canadian border known for illegal smuggling activities.
On June 26, 2024, agents observed Ng carrying a duffel bag as she prepared an inflatable kayak on the shore of Lake Wallace. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police notified those agents that two individuals (one believed to be Ng’s spouse) had launched an inflatable watercraft on the Canadian side of the lake and begun paddling southward, toward the United States. Before she could leave the shore, agents intercepted Ng and detained her for suspected smuggling activity.
Agents found 29 turtles individually wrapped in socks inside her duffle bag. A U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent preliminarily identified them as eastern box turtles. The pet trade market, especially in China and Hong Kong, highly prizes turtles with colorful markings. These animals are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).
The U.S. Border Patrol, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation with assistance from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.
United States v. Power Performance Enterprises, Inc., et al.
- No. 2:22-CR-00043 (Eastern District of California)
- ECS Senior Counsel Kris Dighe
- ECS Trial Attorney Stephen Foster
- AUSA Katherine Lydon
- ECS Paralegal John Jones
On December 17, 2024, a court sentenced Power Performance Enterprises, Inc., (PPEI), and company president, Kory B. Willis, to jointly pay a $1.55 million fine. Willis will complete a three-year term of probation to include ten months’ home detention, and PPEI will complete a five-year term of probation. As part of the probation, the company must comply with the terms of a civil Consent Decree it entered into with DOJ.
The defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to violating the Clean Air Act (CAA) for tampering with emissions control system monitoring devices installed on diesel trucks (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)).
In addition to the criminal charges, the government also filed a civil complaint against PPEI and Willis in the Western District of Louisiana, for violating the CAA prohibition against the sale or manufacture of devices that bypass, defeat, or render inoperative emissions’ controls. Under the criminal plea agreements and a proposed civil consent decree, PPEI and Willis agreed to pay a total of $3.1 million in criminal fines and civil penalties. Under the civil settlement, both Willis and the company agree not to manufacture, sell, or install any device that defeats emissions controls.
Between 2009 and 2019, PPEI and Willis ranked among the nation’ s most prominent developers of custom software known as “tunes.” These tunes can alter a diesel truck’ s fuel delivery, power parameters, and emissions. A “deleted” vehicle is one where someone has removed or disabled the emissions controls. Those in the industry knew PPEI and Willis for their custom delete tunes, which allow deleted trucks to run seemingly normally. Willis claimed PPEI ranked among the largest custom tuning companies in the world, with more than 100,000 customers, tuning more than 500 vehicles a week. According to internal PPEI records, the company typically sold well over a million dollars of product a month.
The U.S Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.
United States v. Konstantinos Atsalis, et al.
Nos. 2:24-CR-00307, 00308, 00836, 00837 (District of New Jersey)
- ECS Trial Attorney Lauren Steele
- ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ken Nelson
- AUSA Joseph Stern
- SAUSA Katherine Ward
- ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris
On December 23, 2024, a court sentenced Konstantinos Atsalis and Sonny Bosito, who had previously pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a)). Atsalis will pay a $5,000 fine, with time served. Bosito was sentenced to time served. Avin International, LTD (Avin), and Kriti Ruby Special Maritime Enterprise (KRSME) pleaded guilty to violating APPS by failing to maintain an accurate oil record book, falsifying records, and obstructing an agency proceeding (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a);18 U.S.C. §§ 1505, 1519). Both companies are jointly and severally liable for a $3,375,000 fine and a $1,125,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation. They each will complete five-year terms of probation and implement environmental compliance plans.
Atsalis worked as the Chief Engineer (CE) and Bosito as the Second Engineer (SE), onboard the Kriti Ruby, a Greek-register oil Tanker. It was operated by Avin and owned by KRSME. On multiple occasions between May and September 2022, SE Bosito ordered subordinate crew members to transfer oily bilge waste to the sewage holding tank and failed to record the transfers in the Oil Record Book (ORB), as required by APPS. He also performed such transfers himself and ordered the transfer of oily waste from the vessel’s incinerator waste oil tank into the sewage holding tank. CE Atsalis authorized transfers of oily waste from the bilges to the sewage holding tank, and also ordered crew members to discharge the sewage holding tank within 12 nautical miles of the nearest land, both of which he failed to record in the ORB.
The vessel arrived in Sewaren, New Jersey, on September 14, 2022, to offload gasoline cargo. On September 15, 2022, U.S. Coast Guard personnel boarded the vessel and performed a Port State Control exam. Among other findings, the boarding team discovered a wilden pump and several hoses coated in oily residue concealed in a void space in the engine room. During the investigation, the government obtained numerous videos and photographs of illegal activity in the ship’ s engine room, including video showing the transfer of oily waste from the bilge to the sewage tank using piping.
The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service conducted the investigation.
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