Environmental Crimes Bulletin January 2024 Week 3

In this issue:

• United States v. Bradley Bruss, et al., Nos. 2:23-CR-20038, 2:22-CR-20030 (D. Kans.), AUSA Jabari Wamble
• United States v. Alan Jones, No. 2:23-CR-00036 (N.D. Ind.), AUSA Kevin F. Wolff
• United States v. Anthony S. Gilstrap, No. 1:21-CR-00134 (D. Hi.), ECS Senior Counsel Kris Dighe, AUSA Gregg Yates, and ECS Paralegal Samantha Goins
• United States v. Care Environmental Corporation, No. 7:23-CR-00034 (M.D. Ga.), AUSA Leah McEwen and RCEC Keith Weisinger
• United States v. Charles L. Stinson, et al., No. 1:21-CR-00044 (W.D. Ky.), AUSA Joshua Judd
• United States v. Jaime Alejandro Sanchez Robles, No. 2:22-CR-00227 (E.D. Calif.), AUSA Alstyn Bennett
• United States v. Luis Enrique Rodriguez Sanchez, et al., No. 3:23-CR-00186 (D.P.R.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan, AUSA Seth Erbe, and ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer
• United States v. Jason Martin, et al., No. 5:23-CR-00010 (S.D. Miss.), AUSA Herbert S. Carraway

United States v. Bradley Bruss, et al., Nos. 2:23-CR-20038, 2:22-CR-20030 (D. Kans.), AUSA Jabari Wamble

On January 16, 2024, a court sentenced Bradley Bruss to pay a $50,000 fine, complete a two-year term of probation, and perform 50 hours of community service after pleading guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311 (a), 1319 (c)(2)(A)).

Bruss is a plant manager for Disposable Instrument Company, Inc. (DIC), a company that manufactured medical and surgical device components from stainless steel and aluminum bar stock. Bruss was involved in all aspects of the manufacturing process, which generates electroplating wastewater that requires pretreatment prior to discharging into the sewer system, or publicly owned treatment works (POTW).

Between 2016 and October 2018, DIC bypassed the pretreatment process, dumping hazardous wastes directly into the POTW and violating the company’s Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permit. In September 2018, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) installed two manhole samplers upstream and downstream from DIC to collect water samples. A month later, EPA determined that DIC violated its discharge permit on multiple days between September and October 2018.

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

United States v. Alan Jones, No. 2:23-CR-00036 (N.D. Ind.), AUSA Kevin F. Wolff

On January 16, 2024, Alan Jones pleaded guilty to mail fraud stemming from his work involving underground storage tank remediation projects (18 U.S.C. § 1341).

Jones worked for two environmental consulting companies, Thompson Environmental, Inc., and JT Environmental, LLC. Gas station owners hired these firms to manage and perform remediation work related to underground storage tank leaks.

The Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM) regulates the use of underground storage tanks by gas stations that store petroleum products. The State’s Excess Liability Trust Fund (Trust Fund) is administered by IDEM to help tank owners and operators defray some of their tank remediation costs.

Between June 2018 through October 2019, Jones submitted multiple false and fraudulent applications for payments to the Trust Fund, including for work by a contractor he knew had passed away.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Indiana Department of Environmental Management conducted the investigation.

United States v. Anthony S. Gilstrap, No. 1:21-CR-00134 (D. Hi.), ECS Senior Counsel Kris Dighe, AUSA Gregg Yates, and ECS Paralegal Samantha Goins

On January 17, 2024, a court sentenced Anthony S. Gilstrap to 63 months’ incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. Gilstrap pleaded guilty to violating RCRA for transporting hazardous waste without a manifest, falsifying a hazardous waste manifest, and illegally storing hazardous waste (42 U.S.C. §§ 6928(d)(5), (d)(3), (d)(2)(A)). Gilstrap also pleaded guilty to possessing a stolen firearm (18 U.S.C. § 922(j)).

In January of 2017, Gilstrap, who has lived in Hawaii, Georgia, and Kansas, agreed to remove drums of the RCRA-listed hazardous waste perchloroethylene (perc) from Young’s Laundry & Dry Cleaning (YLD), owned by U.S. Dry Cleaning Corp. (USDC). YLD’s Regional Manager (who previously pleaded guilty) hired Gilstrap to remove the drums for less than half of what legitimate hazardous waste disposal companies quoted. Gilstrap took the drums to his warehouse, which was not a permitted storage or treatment site, without required RCRA manifests. Both Gilstrap and USDC produced false manifests to conceal their activities from the Hawaii Department of Health (HDOH). When questioned by an HDOH inspector about the missing drums, Gilstrap lied about their whereabouts.

USDC pleaded guilty to violating RCRA and was sentenced in May 2022 to complete a three-year term of probation and publish two public apologies.

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

United States v. Care Environmental Corporation, No. 7:23-CR-00034 (M.D. Ga.), AUSA Leah McEwen and RCEC Keith Weisinger

On January 17, 2024, a court sentenced Care Environmental Corporation (CEC) to complete a five-year term of probation, and to pay a $50,000 fine and approximately $135,000 in restitution. The company pleaded guilty to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for knowingly storing hazardous waste without a permit (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)).

Between 2004 and 2019, CEC collected and disposed of hazardous waste from households and generators across the eastern United States. In December 2018, the company closed its facility and stopped receiving materials for disposal. CEC developed a closure plan to remove the remaining chemicals stored onsite with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GAEPD).

In October 2019, the GAEPD notified the Environmental Protection Agency following an emergency response inspection. Inspectors found approximately 2,100 55-gallon drums, 200 large totes, and two storage tanks containing waste substances in the warehouse. Some of the containers were leaking. GAEPD personnel also found hazardous materials stored in office areas that presented a serious fire and explosion hazard. The chemicals they identified included yellow phosphorus, carbon tetrachloride, hydrogen sulfide, elemental mercury, and fumigants.

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

United States v. Charles L. Stinson, et al., No. 1:21-CR-00044 (W.D. Ky.), AUSA Joshua Judd

On January 18, 2024, Logsdon Valley Oil, Inc., a/k/a Hart Petroleum (Logsdon), and company vice president Charles L. Stinson pleaded guilty to violating the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) (18 U.S.C. § 300h-2(b)(2)).  Sentencing is scheduled for April 25, 2024.

Logsdon is a Kentucky corporation that owns and operates several oil production wells and tank batteries. On September 13, 2021, Stinson and Logsdon injected fluids into a sinkhole that was not permitted or authorized for underground injection. The defendants previously violated the SDWA in 2013 by conducting similar activity in the same area. In the previous case, they admitted to injecting brine water from the tank battery to sinkholes over an approximately four-year period.

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

United States v. Jaime Alejandro Sanchez Robles, No. 2:22-CR-00227 (E.D. Calif.), AUSA Alstyn Bennett

On January 18, 2024, a court sentenced Jaime Alejandro Sanchez Robles to serve 37 months’ incarceration, followed by 60 month’s supervised release, and pay approximately $69,000 in restitution. Robles pleaded guilty to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana and depredation of public lands and resources for growing marijuana in the Shasta-Trinity National Forest (21 U.S.C. §§ 846, 841(a)(1);18 U.S.C. § 1361).

In October 2022, Robles conspired to grow close to 2,000 marijuana plants and diverted water from a nearby stream. Law enforcement officers found the remnants of more than 1,200 pounds of soluble fertilizer, 20 gallons of liquid fertilizer, 50 pounds of rodenticide, and at least one dead animal.

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

United States v. Luis Enrique Rodriguez Sanchez, et al., No. 3:23-CR-00186 (D.P.R.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan, AUSA Seth Erbe, and ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer

On January 19, 2024, Luis Enrique Rodriguez Sanchez pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319(c)(2)(A)). In May 2023, prosecutors charged Rodriguez Sanchez and Pedro Luis Bones Torres with violating the Clean Water Act and the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA). The charges stemmed from an illegal construction project in which the defendants deposited fill material into the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR) and the Las Mareas community of Salinas, Puerto Rico (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319(c)(2)(A), 403, 406).

Rodriguez Sanchez owned a rock quarry, trucks for moving quarry material, and various heavy equipment used in construction and earth moving. Bones Torres was a licensed truck driver and owned and operated heavy equipment used in construction and land development. Between January 2020 and October 2022, the defendants illegally discharged fill material from excavation and earth moving equipment into the wetlands and waters of the Reserve. They also built structures (a dock and a concrete boat ramp) without obtaining the necessary permits from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Officials with NOAA designated the JBNERR as a National Estuarine Research Reserve in 1981. The area is comprised of approximately 2,800 acres of coastal ecosystems in the Southern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. The JBNERR contains mangrove islands, mangrove forests, tidal wetlands, coral reefs, lagoons, salt flats, dry forest, and seagrass beds. It is also home to the endangered brown pelican, peregrine falcon, hawksbill turtle, and West Indian manatee.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division, Department of Commerce Office of Inspector General, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

United States v. Jason Martin, et al., No. 5:23-CR-00010 (S.D. Miss.), AUSA Herbert S. Carraway

On January 19, 2024, Jason Martin pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. § 371). Co-defendant Brandon S. Favre entered a similar plea in November 2023. Martin is scheduled for sentencing on April 3, 2024.

Between October 2020 and June 2021, Favre and Martin transported live white-tailed deer from Louisiana into Mississippi. In April 2021, Martin delivered deer to Mistletoe Properties, a permitted 850-acre high-fence enclosure for white-tailed deer operated by Favre.  Upon delivery, the deer entered an unpermitted breeding pen located on the property.  The deer were illegally transported interstate without documentation. Among the required records are those that certify captive-bred animals are free from diseases such as chronic wasting disease (CWD).  CWD is the chief threat to wild deer and elk populations in North America.

A court sentenced Favre to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a four-year term of probation. He was also ordered to implement a four-year CWD sampling and testing plan at the Mistletoe property and will pay $59,808 in restitution for the sampling costs. Favre also will submit 40 white-tailed deer for harvesting each of the four years for CWD testing.

The Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Parks Investigations Unit, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.