Environmental Crimes Bulletin August 2023 Week 2

In this Issue:

• United States v. Cesar Ramirez, et al., No. 3:22-CR-02457 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Jorge Morfin, No. 3:22-CR-02696 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Bruce Evans, Sr., et al., No. 3:19-CR-00009 (M.D. Pa.), AUSA Michelle Olsheksi and SAUSAs Martin Harrell and Patricia Miller
• United States v. Samuel J. Webster, No. 1:22-CR-00068 (D. Utah), AUSAs Melina Shiraldi and Karen Fojtik
• United States v. Michael Amato, No. 4:22-CR-00148 (E.D. Mo.), AUSA Dianna Collins
• United States v. Zeus Lines Management S.A., et al., No. 1:23-CR-00028 (D.R.I.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte, AUSA John McAdams, ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris, and SAUSA Lt. Commander Paul Milliken

United States v. Cesar Ramirez, et al., No. 3:22-CR-02457 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson

On August 7, 2023, a court sentenced Marielos Yvonne Hinnaoui to one day time- served and to pay a $500 fine. Hinnaoui and Cesar Ramirez pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act and failing to present a vehicle for inspection (18 U.S.C. § 371). Ramirez is scheduled for sentencing on September 18, 2023.

On September 19, 2022, authorities apprehended Ramirez and Hinnaoui as they attempted to smuggle the following illegal Mexican pesticides into the United States: 2 one-liter bottles of “Oberon,” 2 one-liter bottles of “Biomec,” and 1 one-liter bottle of “Tetrasan.” The defendants concealed the bottles inside a suitcase but denied having anything to declare. These pesticides are canceled in the United States.

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. Jorge Morfin, No. 3:22-CR-02696 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson

On August 7, 2023, a court sentenced Jorge Morfin to complete a three-year term of probation and pay $1,000 restitution to the government of Mexico. Morfin pleaded guilty to smuggling protected wildlife (18 U.S.C. § 545).

In October 2022, Morfin attempted to smuggle more than 600 dried seahorses (weighing six kilograms) into the United States from Mexico at the Tecate, California, port of entry. Seahorses are an endangered species.

Authorities found the seahorses in ten separate plastic bags, in three locations in his vehicle. The bags also contained granulated laundry detergent, which was used to conceal the scent. Morfin stated he expected to be paid $5,000 to deliver the seahorses into the United States.

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

United States v. Bruce Evans, Sr., et al., No. 3:19-CR-00009 (M.D. Pa.), AUSA Michelle Olsheksi and SAUSAs Martin Harrell and Patricia Miller

On August 7, 2023, a court sentenced Bruce Evans, Sr., to 24 months’ incarceration, followed by three years’ supervised release. The amount of restitution the defendant will pay has to be determined.

In December 2021, a jury convicted Bruce Evans, Sr., and his son, Bruce Evans, Jr., on 29 of 36 counts involving Clean Water Act (CWA), wire fraud, and obstruction of correspondence violations (33 U.S.C. §§ 1319(c)(2)(A), 1311, 1342; 18 U.S.C. §§ 1343, 1702). The charges arose from conduct occurring at the Greenfield Township, Pennsylvania, wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) between 2013 and 2017. The jury convicted Evans, Jr., on all five CWA counts for failure to operate and maintain the plant in violation of the CWA permit, discharge in violation of a permit, and making a CWA false statement for lying on a WWTP job application (33 U.S.C. §§ 1319(c)(2)(A), 1319(c)(4), 1311, 1342).

Evans, Sr., managed the plant and spent more than 30 years as the Township Supervisor. He continued to hold the Township Supervisor position during trial, after refusing to resign following his indictment. He supervised his son at both the WWTP and the township, controlled all correspondence and payroll for each, and operated a small public drinking water system. Evans, Jr., worked as an “assistant” WWTP operator beginning in late 2017, a scheme orchestrated by his father in defiance of the four other board members. The obstruction of correspondence charges stemmed from his failure to deliver Notices of Violation to board members sent in late 2015 by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PADEP).

Evans, Sr., admitted to some financial wrongdoings, but blamed them on oversights and his desire to help his son. Regarding the environmental charges, he blamed the contract operators, stating that overseeing the plant’s environmental operations was “not my job.” Despite receiving $25,000 a year as a part-time plant manager, Evans, Sr., testified he never bothered to read the National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit during his entire tenure as plant manager.

The CWA counts involved violations of the Authority’s CWA permit, including both numerical limits and several different narrative permit conditions, bypassing a pump station that resulted in the routing of raw sewage into a marshy area adjacent to a stream, and failing to notify PADEP about bypasses, sanitary sewer overflows, and hauled wastes.

Following years of noncompliance at the WWTP, federal authorities initiated an investigation in 2013, using covert cameras positioned to surveil activity at the facility and a nearby pump station. Additional investigation revealed PADEP issued repeated warnings to Evans, Sr., (as the facility’s responsible corporate officer) regarding deficient facility inspections, permit non-compliance, community complaints about foul odors, and visible raw sewage routinely overflowing from a pump station.

Evans, Jr., was sentenced in April 2023 to 12 months and one day of incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release. Evans also will pay $678 in restitution to the Greenfield Township Sewer Authority Board.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection conducted the investigation.

United States v. Samuel J. Webster, No. 1:22-CR-00068 (D. Utah), AUSAs Melina Shiraldi and Karen Fojtik

On August 7, 2023, Samuel J. Webster pleaded guilty to two violations of the animal crush statute (18 U.S.C. § 48(a)(3)). Sentencing is scheduled for December 11, 2023.

In October 2021, Webster purchased a guinea pig and posted videos showing him torturing and killing the animal on YouTube.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

United States v. Michael Amato, No. 4:22-CR-00148 (E.D. Mo.), AUSA Dianna Collins

On August 8, 2023, a court sentenced Michael Amato to time served, followed by three years’ supervised release. Amato also must donate $5,000 to the World Bird Sanctuary and forfeit more than six dozen taxidermy bird mounts seized from his residence, as well as bird mounts still in his possession, including owls, buzzards, hawks, eagles, harriers and cranes. Amato pleaded guilty to smuggling wildlife into the United States (18 U.S.C. § 545).

Between February 2018 and September 2020, Amato and others smuggled wildlife into the United States from Malta, England, Germany, and other countries without declaring the wildlife and without obtaining the permits required by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Amato smuggled a total of 67 different birds. He directed his international associates how to list the wildlife and fill out export/import forms to avoid law enforcement detection.

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

United States v. Zeus Lines Management S.A., et al., No. 1:23-CR-00028 (D.R.I.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte, AUSA John McAdams, ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris, and SAUSA Lt. Commander Paul Milliken

On August 8, 2023, a court sentenced Zeus Lines Management S.A. (Zeus), to pay a $1,687,500 fine and make a community service payment of $562,500 to the National Fish and Wildlife Fund. Zeus also will complete a four-year term of probation during which it must implement an environmental compliance plan and engage a court-appointed monitor. Chief Engineer Roberto Cayabyab Penaflor will complete a three-year term of probation, and captain Jose Ervin Mahigne Porquez will complete a two-year term.

Zeus, a vessel operating company, pleaded guilty to maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oily bilge wastes and failing to report a hazardous condition on board the oil tanker M/V Galissas. Chief engineer Penaflor and Captain Porquez also pleaded guilty for their roles.

In February 2022, the defendants failed to maintain an accurate Oil Record Book and failed to report a hazardous condition on board the ship, specifically, that the inert gas system was inoperable. Zeus pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and the Ports and Waterways Safety Act (PWSA) (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a); 46 U.S.C. § 70036(b)). Porquez pleaded guilty to violating APPS and Penaflor pleaded guilty to violating the PWSA.

The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service conducted the investigation.

Environmental Crimes Bulletin