Former Sioux City Council Member Charged With Environmental Crimes

Aaron Rochester, 44, from Sioux City, Iowa, has been charged with one count of unlawful storage of hazardous waste and one charge of transportation of hazardous waste.­  The charges are contained in an Indictment filed on July 25, 2018, in United States District Court in Sioux City. 

­The Indictment alleges that, beginning on or about June 2015 through about July 2018, Rochester, as owner and operator of Recycletronics, knowingly and unlawfully, stored and transported hazardous waste, namely CRTs (cathode ray tubes) and leaded glass from televisions and computers at various facilities in and around Sioux City Iowa. 

If convicted, Rochester faces a possible maximum sentence of five years’ imprisonment, a maximum fine of up to $50,000 for each day of the violation, and three years of supervised release following any imprisonment.­

Rochester appeared today, September 25, 2018, in federal court in Sioux City and was released on bond with terms of supervision with US Probation.    Rochester’s next appearance for trial is scheduled for November 5, 2018.  As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn S. Wehde and was investigated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  EPA Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey Martinez stated, “EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division will continue to serve our communities by aggressively investigating and seeking prosecution of those whose conduct violates laws governing the storage of hazardous waste.”

Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. 

The case file number is 18-4073.  Follow us on Twitter @USAO_NDIA.