Environmental Crimes Bulletin January 2022

In this issue:

• United States v. Dr. Richard Kazmaier, No. 2:22-CR-00005 (N.D. Tex.), ECS Trial Attorney Ryan Connors, AUSA Anna Bell, and ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris
• United States v. Chun Ku, et al., No. 22-CR-20025 (S.D. Fla.), ECS Trial Attorney Banu Rangarajan, AUSA Tom Watts-FitzGerald and ECS Paralegal Claudia Garin
• United States v. Christopher Winkler, et al., No. 2:21-CR-00217 (E.D.N.Y.), ECS Trial Attorney Christopher Hale, ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ken Nelson, and ECS Paralegal Samantha Goins
• United States v. Vanessa Rondeau, No. 22-CR-00005 (W.D.N.Y.), AUSA Aaron Mango
• United States v. Raymond Johnson, et al., Nos. 3:20-CR-00137, 3:21-CR00108 (E.D. Va.), ECS Trial Attorneys Banu Rangarajan and William Shapiro, AUSA Stephen Anthony, and ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer
• United States v. Signal Peak Energy, LLC, et al., Nos. 1:19-CR-00159, 1:21-CR00079, 00080 (D. Mont.) AUSAs Colin M. Rubich, Zeno B. Baucus, and Timothy Tatarka
• United States v. Christopher Cox, No. 3:21-CR-05221 (W.D. Wash.), AUSA Cecelia Gregson
• United States v. Alcir DeSouza, No. 3:21-CR-00099 (M.D. Fla.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Daniel Dooher and ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer
• United States v. Richard Gontarek, No. 2:21-mj-10321 (D.N.J.), AUSA Kathleen O’Leary
• United States v. Jason Ksepka, No. 3:21-CR-00729 (D.N.J.), AUSA Kathleen O’Leary
• United States v. Jerry Ostwinkle, et al., No. 2:21-po-05319 (D. Ariz.), ECS Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy, AUSA Jim Knapp, and ECS Paralegal Samantha Goins
• United States v. Evangelina Amaro, No. 21-CR-01932 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Byungsu Kim, et al., No. 2:19-CR-00329 (C.D. Calif.), AUSAs Matthew W. O’Brien and Dennis Mitchell
• United States v. Conchita L. Ayala, No. 3:21-CR-02191 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Jeffrey G. Brookshire, No. 1:21-CR-00017 (W.D.N.C.), AUSA Steven Kaufman
• United States v. Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services LLC, et al., No. 8:18-CR-00216 (D. Neb.), ECS Senior Counsel Kris Dighe, AUSA Donald J. Kleine, and ECS Law Clerk Nate Borrelli
• United States v. Randy Gardner, No. 4:20-CR-00633 (E.D. Mo.), AUSA Dianna Collins
• United States v. Monsanto Company, No. 1:21-CR-00140 (D. Hawaii), AUSAs Mark A. Williams, Erik M. Silber, and Dennis Mitchell

United States v. Dr. Richard Kazmaier, No. 2:22-CR-00005 (N.D. Tex.), ECS Trial Attorney Ryan Connors, AUSA Anna Bell, and ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris

On January 27, 2022, prosecutors charged Dr. Richard Kazmaier with violating the Endangered Species Act and smuggling for illegally importing wildlife into the United States (18 U.S.C § 545; 16 U.S.C. §§ 1538(e),1540(b)(1)). Trial is scheduled to begin on March 28, 2022.

Kazmaier worked as a biology professor at West Texas A&M University. Between March 2017 and February 2020, Kazmaier purchased wildlife items from around the world for his personal collection. He imported the wildlife without declaring it to customs or the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The wildlife included species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, including the Eurasian otter, lynx, caracal, vervet monkey, greater naked-tailed armadillo, and king bird-of-paradise.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation as part of Operation Global Reach. The operation focused on the trafficking of wildlife from Indonesia to the United States.

United States v. Chun Ku, et al., No. 22-CR-20025 (S.D. Fla.), ECS Trial Attorney Banu Rangarajan, AUSA Tom Watts-FitzGerald and ECS Paralegal Claudia

Garin.

On January 27, 2022, prosecutors filed an information charging Chun Ku with conspiracy, smuggling, and violating the Lacey Act for smuggling protected reptiles (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 554; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372 (d)(1), 3373(d)(3)(A)(i)). Co-conspirator Daisuke Miyauchi pleaded guilty to the same charges.

Miyauchi owns and operates Maniac Reptiles, located in Yokohama, Japan. Miyauchi conspired with Ku, owner and operator of Dynasty Reptiles in Miami, Florida, to use Ku’s “Master File” Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) permit to smuggle various CITES II-protected reptiles out of the United States, including ball pythons, blood pythons, and Mexican Burrowing/New World pythons. Miyauchi frequently travelled to the United States to attend reptile shows and purchase reptiles. He contacted Ku and provided details in advance regarding his purchase plans to allow Ku time to complete the fraudulent paperwork. After purchasing the reptiles, Miyauchi transported them to Miami to prepare for shipment to Japan. Upon arriving in Miami, Miyauchi obtained the fraudulent paperwork from Ku and submitted it to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service using a customs broker. Between October 2014, and August 2021, Ku illegally exported 39 shipments to Miyauchi under his Master File permit. The total retail value of CITES IIprotected species smuggled by Miyauchi is approximately $3,442,700.

Further investigation revealed that Ku made a similar arrangement with at least one other co-conspirator for whom Ku fraudulently exported at least 20 shipments of reptiles under his Master File permit. The total retail value of CITES II-protected species smuggled by Ku is approximately $5,134,170.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation.

United States v. Christopher Winkler, et al., No. 2:21-CR-00217 (E.D.N.Y.), ECS Trial Attorney Christopher Hale, ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ken Nelson, and ECS Paralegal

Samantha Goins On January 26, 2022, a grand jury returned a superseding indictment charging a fisherman with conspiracy and substantive charges in connection with a scheme to illegally overharvest fluke and black sea bass. Prosecutors charged Christopher Winkler with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, to obstruct the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) through the falsification of fishing logs, and to obstruct NOAA’s efforts at regulating federal fisheries (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1341, 1519).

In April 2021, Winkler, Bryan Gosman, Asa Gosman, and Bob Gosman Co., Inc., were charged as part of this conspiracy. Winkler is also separately charged, however, in the superseding indictment.

Between May 2014 and February 2017, Winkler, as captain of the F/V New Age, embarked on approximately 220 fishing trips where he caught fluke or black sea bass in excess of applicable trip limits. The defendants sold the illegally harvested fish to two nowdefunct companies in the New Fulton Fish Market in the Bronx and a fish dealer in Montauk. Estimated overages included at least 200,000 pounds of fluke, with a wholesale value of the total over-quota fish (of all species) at $850,000.

Federal law requires fishing captains to accurately report their catch to NOAA on Fishing Vessel Trip Report (FVTR) forms. Similarly, the first company that buys fish directly from a fishing vessel (the fish dealer) must specify what it purchases on a Dealer Report. NOAA utilizes this information to set policies designed to ensure a sustainable fishery.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case.

United States v. Vanessa Rondeau, No. 22-CR-00005 (W.D.N.Y.), AUSA Aaron Mango

On January 27 2022, Vanessa Rondeau pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act for trafficking in wildlife (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(1)(B)). Rondeau falsely labelled and trafficked polar bear skulls she sold through her business, the Old Cavern Boutique, to an undercover wildlife agent (UA). Sentencing is scheduled for June 9, 2022.

Rondau, a Canadian national, resides in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. In December 2019, she posted an advertisement offering to sell a polar bear skull for $750. The UA purchased the skull in January 2020, and Rondau mailed it to him from a post office located in the United States near the Canadian border.

In January 2021, Rondau posted another advertisement offering to sell a polar bear skull for $699. The UA purchased this polar bear skull from the defendant, who mailed it directly from Canada to the UA in the United States. Knowing she was breaking, the law, she shipped the skull from Canada to the United States, marking the package as a “gift” rather than a “sale.”

Agents arrested Rondau in May 2021, as she attempted to cross the border from Vermont into Canada. She possessed numerous undeclared wildlife items, including crocodilian skulls and feet, a three-toed sloth, shark jaws, and a human skull.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Homeland Services Investigations conducted the investigation.

United States v. Raymond Johnson, et al., Nos. 3:20-CR-00137, 3:21-CR00108 (E.D. Va.), ECS Trial Attorneys Banu Rangarajan and William Shapiro, AUSA Stephen Anthony, and ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer

On January 11, 2022, Raymond Johnson pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with conspiracy to violate the Animal Welfare Act and felon-in-possession of a firearm (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 922(g)). Sentencing is scheduled for March 31, 2022.

In 2019, law enforcement began investigating a criminal organization involved in drug distribution. As a result of authorized wire intercepts, agents obtained communications between Johnson and co-conspirators discussing dog fighting. Between November 2019 and August 2020, Johnson bought, sold, bred, trained, sponsored, and fought pit bull-type dogs. Johnson hosted at least two fights at his residence. On November 19, 2020, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Johnson’s home and recovered several firearms, as well as nine pit-bull type dogs, together with dog collars, chains, medications, supplies and supplements, and a treadmill used to train dogs for fighting. At the time of the warrant, Johnson was a previously convicted felon.

Johnson is one of several defendants charged with participating in an extensive animal fighting venture.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Office of the Attorney General for the State of Virginia.

United States v. Signal Peak Energy, LLC, et al., Nos. 1:19-CR-00159, 1:21-CR00079, 00080 (D. Mont.) AUSAs Colin M. Rubich, Zeno B. Baucus, and Timothy Tatarka

On January 31, 2022, a court sentenced Signal Peak Energy, LLC, (SPE) to pay a $1 million fine, complete a three-year term of probation (to include implementing an environmental compliance plan) and pay $400 in restitution to injured worker, Gaylen Monson. This underground coal mine operator previously pleaded guilty to four counts of willfully violating Mine Safety and Health Act (MSHA) standards (30 U.S.C. § 802(d)).

The SPE prosecution is part of a broad corruption investigation into mine management and operations that resulted in worker safety and environmental convictions, as well as embezzlement, tax evasion, bank fraud, money laundering, drugs, and firearms violations.

Convicted mine officials include: Larry Wayne Price, Jr., a former vice president of surface operations, sentenced to prison for defrauding companies out of $20 million; and Zachary Ruble, former surface mine manager, sentenced to probation for conspiring to defraud SPE of $2.3 million. A third mine official, Dale Lee Musgrave, former underground operations vice president, pleaded guilty to violating MSHA, and is scheduled for sentencing on May 4, 2022.

Other cases include: Stephen P. Casher, a former Rocky Mountain Bank loan officer, sentenced to prison and fined on bank fraud and money laundering charges for a loan scheme involving Price; James and Timilynn Kisling, owners of Kisling Quality Builders, sentenced to probation and fined for evading taxes in a scheme involving the construction of Price’s residence; Nevada resident Mark Luciano, sentenced to prison for conviction on trafficking cocaine; and Todd Alan Irwin, Price’s secretary, sentenced to probation as a felon-in-possession of firearms. Robert Wayne Ramsey, owner of Peters Equipment Company, pleaded guilty to wire fraud in November 2021, for an equipment sales’ scheme, and is scheduled for sentencing on April 21, 2022.

Between 2013 and 2018, SPE routinely violated MSHA health and safety standards while operating the mine, in addition to environmental and worker safety standards. These violations also occurred with the full knowledge, direction, and participation of the mine’s most senior management during that period, including the president and CEO, the vice president of surface operations, the vice president of underground operations, and the safety manager.

During the summer of 2013, SPE’s senior managers directed mine employees to improperly dispose of mine waste by pumping it into abandoned sections of the mine. This waste, known as “slurry,” consisted of wastewater, chemicals, and unprocessed soil containing heavy metals (including arsenic and lead.) Mine employees pumped this slurry into an abandoned section of the mine for approximately two weeks, until the section was full. Disposing of mine waste in this manner required MSHA and EPA approval, which SPE did not obtain.

During the spring of 2015, SPE commissioned the drilling of two bore holes through the ground leading to another abandoned section of the mine. SPE obtained a permit to inject water into the ground through the bore holes, but this permit did not allow for slurry waste disposal. Senior mine managers directed employees to pump more slurry through the bore holes for approximately six weeks. They stopped pumping after the slurry breached seals between the abandoned mine works and the operating mine, causing flooding in the active mine.

In January 2018, SPE failed to report an employee injury. While moving equipment in the mine, “John Doe 1’s (JD1)” crushed his finger, requiring amputation. JD1 and the safety manager were on their way to the hospital when JD1 received a phone call from the underground operations vice president (VP). The VP pressured JD1 to not report the injury as work related, saying it would be “worth his while.” The safety manager dropped JD1 at the hospital (rather than accompanying him pursuant to mine policy). JD1 told hospital staff that he hurt himself at home. As a result, he received an envelope containing $2,000 from the VP.

In May 2018, SPE failed to report another injured worker. This employee (John Doe 2–JD2), was working in the underground portion of the mine when rock fell onto his head, causing a severe laceration. The shift manager immediately called the safety manager to take JD2 to the hospital. Instead, the safety manager drove JD2 home, where he waited until the next morning to seek medical attention. JD2 told hospital staff that a shelf fell on his head in his garage. Doctors treated JD2 and he returned to work for his next scheduled shift; however, his injuries prevented him from working for several days following the accident. Management subsequently charged JD2 vacation leave.

The Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

United States v. Christopher Cox, No. 3:21-CR-05221 (W.D. Wash.), AUSA Cecelia Gregson

On January 28, 2022, a court sentenced Christopher Cox to 30 days’ incarceration, followed by five years’ supervised release. Restitution will be determined on March 25, 2022. Cox pleaded guilty to smuggling, making false statements under the Clean Air Act, and possessing child pornography (18 U.S.C. § 545; 42 U.S.C. §§ 7413 (c)(2)(A), 7542).

Between approximately 2015 and January 2019, Cox illegally smuggled cars into the United States that failed to meet federal safety and environmental requirements. He falsified paperwork on two dozen vehicles he imported from overseas. Many of these lightweight vehicles did not meet U.S. safety standards. Cox used his mail carrier credentials to obtain a Transportation Worker Identification Credential ("TWIC") card. The TWIC card allows a person access to secure areas of the nation's maritime facilities and vessels. Cox had no legitimate reason to request this credential, and it gave him access to where vehicles that he had ordered were offloaded, in order to move them off the port before they could be inspected by CBP. COX forged paperwork including forging Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") seals, to falsely show that the vehicles had been inspected by CBP.

He sold some of the vehicles to other mail carriers. The total value of the imported vehicles exceeds $55,000. During the course of this investigation, law enforcement executed on a search warrant on the defendant's Google account and discovered files depicting minors engaged in sexual conduct.

The Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

United States v. Alcir DeSouza, No. 3:21-CR-00099 (M.D. Fla.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Daniel Dooher and ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer

On January 26, 2022, a court sentenced Alcir DeSouza to pay a $50,000 fine. DeSouza previously pleaded guilty to making a false statement during an Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) investigation (18 U.S.C. § 1001).

DeSouza owned DeSouza Framing, Inc. (DFI), a residential and commercial framing contractor, located in St. John, Florida. DFI dissolved as a corporation in July 2018. On December 20, 2017, an OSHA inspector arrived at a DFI jobsite regarding allegations that the site framing contractor failed to provide fall protection for the employees.

Over the course of the investigation, DeSouza attempted to evade responsibility for potential worker safety violations. He claimed that that he subcontracted with another company to perform the framing work at the site, which he knew was completely false.

The U.S. Department of Labor Office of the Inspector General conducted the investigation.

United States v. Richard Gontarek, No. 2:21-mj-10321 (D.N.J.), AUSA Kathleen O’Leary

On January 26, 2022, a court sentenced Richard Gontarek to pay a $2,800 fine, and complete a four-year term of probation, to include six months’ home confinement. Gontarek pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act for selling carvings made from sperm whale ivory (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(2)).

In 2017, an anonymous person notified law enforcement about Gontarek’s sales. Further investigation led agents to his website, where they subsequently set up an undercover operation. Posing as a buyer, an undercover agent (UC) purchased several ivory items from Gontarek. On January 3, 2018, and December 6, 2018, Gontarek shipped packages containing carvings made from a sperm whale tooth to the UC in Pennsylvania. Sperm whales are listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Gontarek forfeited a number of raw and carved ivory pieces.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

United States v. Jason Ksepka, No. 3:21-CR-00729 (D.N.J.), AUSA Kathleen O’Leary

On January 25, 2022, a court sentenced Jason Ksepka to pay a $1,000 fine and complete a three-year term of probation, to include six months’ home confinement. Ksepka pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act for illegally shipping ten live iguanas to Hong Kong that he falsely labeled as “toys” (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(2), 3373(d)(3)(A)).

On November 7, 2017, Ksepka shipped the package (using the name “Luke Jacobs”) from the U.S. Post Office in Lambertville, New Jersey. U.S. Fish and Wildlife inspectors intercepted the package the following day, during a routine x-ray inspection at the John F. Kennedy International Airport Mail Facility. The package contained a small cardboard box labelled “Live Harmless Reptiles.” The inner box also displayed stickers reading “Ty’s Lizards,” and a handwritten note reading “10 Rhino Iguanas Cyclura cornuta.” An out-of-state sender had affixed a shipping label addressed to Ksepka. Two fabric bags held five iguanas each. Investigators sent the iguanas to a non-profit zoological facility for care in North Carolina.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation.

United States v. Jerry Ostwinkle, et al., No. 2:21-po-05319 (D. Ariz.), ECS Trial Attorney Ethan Eddy, AUSA Jim Knapp, and ECS Paralegal Samantha Goins.

United States v. Evangelina Amaro, No. 21-CR-01932 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson

On January 21, 2022, a court sentenced Evangelina Amaro to complete a five-year term of probation. Amaro pleaded guilty to smuggling 22 parrots into the United States from Mexico (18 U.S.C. § 545).

Authorities apprehended Amaro in June 2021 as she entered the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in San Diego. After telling the primary inspector she had nothing to declare, a screeching sound arose from the vehicle’s driver side front door. Using a flashlight, the inspector saw the birds concealed within the car door.

At the secondary inspection area, agents removed the driver’s side and passenger’s side front interior door panels, revealing 22 parrots inside mesh bags. An agriculture specialist identified all as Yellow Crowned Amazon parrots.

Amaro stated that she entered Mexico to visit family members. While in Mexico, an associate offered her $500 to smuggle the parrots into the United States. Officials sent all the parrots to New York for quarantine.

The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation.

United States v. Byungsu Kim, et al., No. 2:19-CR-00329 (C.D. Calif.), AUSAs Matthew W. O’Brien and Dennis Mitchell

On January 20, 2022, a court sentenced South Korean national Byungsu Kim, to 24 months’ incarceration, followed by 36 months’ supervised release, for attempting to illegally export live Dudleya succulent plants to Asia. Kim and co-defendants illegally harvested the plants (worth approximately $150,000) from remote state parks in Northern California. Kim also will pay $3,985 in restitution to the State of California for expenses related to caring for the stolen plants. Kim pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act for poaching protected wild succulent plants (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(B), 3373(d)(1)).

On October 11, 2018, Kim, Youngin Back, and Bong Jun Kim, drove from Los Angeles International Airport to Crescent City, California. Between October 14 and October 16, 2018, they removed numerous Dudleya plants from DeMartin State Beach in Klamath, California, and Del Norte Coast Redwoods State Park. A few days later, they unloaded almost 1,400 plants at a nursery to obtain certification for shipment to South Korea. Kim told the county agriculture inspector that the certificate should note the place of origin as “San Diego County”, which was false. After receiving the certification, they took the plants to a commercial exporter in Compton for shipment to South Korea. After they left, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at the cargo shipping company finding more than 3,000 illegally harvested Dudleya plants in boxes labeled “Rush” and “Live Plants.” Further investigation confirmed Kim conducted internet searches for “poaching succulents” and “Dudleya,” which included a press release describing other Dudleya poacher convictions.

Although California law enforcement officials confiscated Kim’s passport following his arrest, he managed to obtain a replacement in January 2019 from the South Korean Consulate by stating he lost his passport. Kim fled to Mexico with co-defendant Back in May 2019, traveling on foot through the Tijuana-San Ysidro border crossing. Using his fraudulently obtained passport, Kim flew to South Korea with Back.

In October 2019, officials arrested Kim in South Africa for illegally collecting plants from protected areas for export to South Korea. Kim pleaded guilty to the criminal charges in South Africa and officials extradited him to the United States in October 2020.

Bong Jun Kim pleaded guilty in July 2019 to violating the Lacey Act and served four months’ incarceration as time-served. Back remains a fugitive.

The California Department of Fish and Wildlife; the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; San Diego County’s Department of Agriculture, Weights and Measures; the U.S. Department of Agriculture; and the California State Parks conducted the investigation.

United States v. Conchita L. Ayala, No. 3:21-CR-02191 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson

On January 20, 2022, a court sentenced Conchita L. Ayala to complete a two-year term of probation and pay $2,500 in restitution. Ayala pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Federal Insecticide, Rodenticide, and Fungicide Act (18 U.S.C. § 371).

Authorities apprehended Ayala in July 2021, as she drove her vehicle into the United States from Mexico at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. Her vehicle contained 11 bottles of Metagro and 9 bottles of Metaldane, illegal Mexican pesticides.

Those involved in clandestine marijuana grows use illegal pesticides to cultivate unregulated marijuana on both public and private land in the United States.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

United States v. Jeffrey G. Brookshire, No. 1:21-CR-00017 (W.D.N.C.), AUSA Steven Kaufman

On January 20, 2022, a court sentenced Jeffrey G. Brookshire to pay a $1,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. Brookshire pleaded guilty to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for illegally storing and disposing of hazardous waste without a permit (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)).

Brookshire worked as the Director of the Transylvania County Landfill between 2005 until his retirement in July 2017. In April and June 2016, Brookshire accepted firing range air filters that contained lead for disposal at the landfill, without a permit to do so.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

United States v. Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services LLC, et al., No. 8:18-CR-00216 (D. Neb.), ECS Senior Counsel Kris Dighe, AUSA Donald J. Kleine, and ECS Law Clerk Nate Borrelli.

United States v. Randy Gardner, No. 4:20-CR-00633 (E.D. Mo.), AUSA Dianna Collins

On January 13, 2022, a court sentenced Randy Gardner to pay a $2,400 fine and complete a three-year term of probation. Gardner pleaded guilty for his role in falsifying sampling results required under the Safe Drinking Water Act (18 U.S.C. § 1001).

From approximately 2006 until 2017, Gardner worked as a drinking water operator for several communities in southern Missouri. This included the cities of Hornersville and Arbyrd, Missouri, where Gardner collected monthly drinking water samples, and submitted test results to the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).

In June 2017, instead of properly collecting drinking water samples from approved locations within Hornersville and Arbyrd, Gardner collected water from his home tap and submitted the “samples” to the MDNR Environmental Laboratory accompanied by falsified paperwork. Gardner’s home received drinking water from the Dunklin County Public Water District, which does not service Hornersville or Arbyrd.

Gardner’s tap water samples from his house showed E-coli present in the drinking water. As a result, Hornersville and Arbyrd believed they had an E-coli contamination problem. The MDNR subsequently conducted additional drinking water testing from all three areas and confirmed the water was safe. Officials revoked Gardner’s water licensing, prohibiting him from operating water facilities in the State of Missouri.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources conducted the investigation.

United States v. Monsanto Company, No. 1:21-CR-00140 (D. Hawaii), AUSAs Mark A. Williams, Erik M. Silber, and Dennis Mitchell*

On January 6, 2022, a court sentenced Monsanto Company to pay a total of $12 million and implement a comprehensive environmental compliance program to include employing a third-party monitor as part of a three-year term of probation. Monsanto pleaded guilty to 30 violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) related to the application of a glufosinate ammonium-based pesticide, inconsistent with its labelling (7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(2)(G), 136l(b)(1)(A)). The company also pleaded guilty to violating the Resource, Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) for illegal storing a banned pesticide (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)), charges the government would have otherwise dismissed as part of a 2019 Deferred Prosecution Agreement (DPA).

In 2019, the company entered into a DPA, for unlawfully spraying Penncap-M (a banned pesticide) on corn seed and research crops at its Valley Farm facility on Maui in 2014. Monsanto admitted using Penncap-M in violation of FIFRA, despite knowing that the EPA prohibited its use following a 2013 “cancellation order.” The company further admitted that, after the 2014 spraying, it told employees to re-enter the sprayed fields seven days later, even though Monsanto knew that workers should have been prohibited from entering the area for 31 days.

Despite entering into the DPA, during the entire month of June 2020, Monsanto engaged in the same activity as it did in 2019. The company directed workers to use a glufosinate ammonium-based product (sold under the brand name Forfeit 280) to treat cornfields on Oahu. Monsanto then allowed workers to enter the fields during a six-day “restricted-entry interval” (REI). As a result of violating the DPA, the company pleaded guilty to two felony RCRA storage charges for illegally storing 160 pounds of Penncap-M between March 2013 and August 2014, without a permit.

Monsanto already paid $10.2 million for the DPA: a $6 million criminal fine, a $200,000 fine for the FIFRA offense, and $4 million in community service payments to Hawaiian government entities. Because of the new charges, the company will pay an additional $6 million criminal fine, as well as an additional $6 million in community service payments, to be equally divided among the following four Hawaiian agencies: The Department of Agriculture, Pesticide Use Revolving Fund – Pesticide Disposal Program/ Pesticide Safety Training; the Department of the Attorney General, Criminal Justice/ Investigations Division; the Department of Health, Environmental Management Division; and the Department of Land and Natural Resources, Division of Aquatic Resources. In summary, Monsanto will pay a total of $22.2 million for the two RCRA felonies and the 31 FIFRA misdemeanor offenses.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation. *These prosecutors are acting as special attorneys appointed by the Attorney General pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 515. The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Hawaii was recused from the prosecution.

Environmental Crimes Bulletin