Environmental Crimes Bulletin - June 2024

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Note: As of May 2024, the Environmental Crimes Bulletin has returned to a monthly format.

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In This Issue:

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Featured Case

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“Envigo compounded the heartbreaking nature of its animal welfare crimes by committing egregious Clean Water Act violations that undermined public health and the wellbeing of the animals in their care,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Everyone victimized in this precedent-setting animal welfare case deserved better: the workers, the beagles, the environment and the community.”

—From Press Release; also see U.S. v. Envigo, below, for more details on this case.

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Cases by District/Circuit

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Indictments

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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 Paralegal Tonia Sibblies

On June 5, 2024, a grand jury returned an indictment charging Russell Milis with two counts of smuggling goods from the United States and one count of Lacey Act false labeling for trafficking turtles (18 U.S.C § 554; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(1), 3373(d)(3)(A)(i).

Milis and others shipped CITES Appendix II-listed eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles 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.

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United States v. Manuel Domingos Pita

• No. 8:22-CR-00330 (Middle District of Florida)
• AUSA Jay Hoffer
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Banumathi Rangarajan
• ECS Paralegal Maria Wallace

On June 6, 2024, prosecutors filed a superseding information charging Manuel Domingos Pita with a wire fraud conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the United States, and a willful violation of the Occupational Safety and Health Act causing the death of an employee (18 U.S.C. § 371; 29 U.S.C. §h 666(e)).

Pita created and operated several shell construction companies, including one called Domingos 54 Construction, Inc. Starting in May 2018, Pita reported that the business had very few paid employees. Yet, between 2018 and March 2022, he and/or co-conspirators deposited a large amount of money in checks from construction contractors and withdrew most of that money in cash from several bank accounts associated with Domingos 54.

Domingos 54 had also been cited for workplace violations. Specifically, between February and July 2019, OSHA investigators issued six citations for failure to provide fall protection to workers. Despite his involvement in settling these violations, Pita did not enforce fall protection requirements. In March 2020, Pita assigned a worker and three other carpenters to install sheeting on the roof of a residential home, approximately 10 feet above the ground. None of the employees used fall protection gear. Due to windy conditions, a worker was blown off the roof and died from his injuries.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

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United States v. Adam Bied

• No. 24-CR-10171(D. Mass.)
• AUSA Nadine Pelligrini

On June 12, 2024, prosecutors charged Adam Bied with trafficking in wildlife parts from endangered and protected species. Specifically, Bied is charged with two counts of conspiracy to smuggle wildlife parts into the United States, and three counts of violating the Lacey Act and the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The wildlife is also protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) (18 U.S.C. § 371; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372 (a), 3373(d), 1538(a)(1)(A), 1540(b)).

Between January 2018 through June 2021, Bied bought, sold, and traded wildlife parts and products, with knowledge that many of the transactions were in violation of U.S. laws and regulations. Specifically, Bied placed orders with individuals in Cameroon and Indonesia who were in the businesses of killing and acquiring wildlife (including endangered and protected species), which he then resold or traded to customers in the United States. Bied did not possess a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) import/export license or necessary CITES permits and failed to declare the wildlife to the USFWS upon import.

Prosecutors also filed a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to forfeit more than 100 wildlife parts from endangered, threatened, or protected species seized by the USFWS in July 2021 from Bied’s residence, storage unit, and a vehicle. The wildlife parts include: orangutan skulls; tiger skulls; leopard skin, skulls, and claw; jaguar skin and skull; African lion skulls; a polar bear skull; a narwhal tusk; an otter skeleton; a harp seal skull; a South American fur seal skull; an elephant seal skull; babirusa skulls; mandrill skulls; a wallaby skull; and a jackal skull.

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

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Guilty Pleas

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United States v. Envigo RMS, LLC, et al.

• No. 6:24-CR-00016 (Western District of Virginia)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Banu Rangarajan
• ECS Trial Attorney Sarah Brown
• ECS Paralegal Jillian Grubb
• AUSA Randy Ramseyer
• AUSA Corey Hall
• AUSA Carrie Macon
• SAUSA Michelle Welch

On June 3, 2024, Envigo RMS, LLC pleaded guilty to conspiring to knowingly violate the Animal Welfare Act (AWA), and Envigo Global Services, Inc., pleaded guilty to conspiring to knowingly violate the Clean Water Act (CWA) (18 U.S.C. § 371; 33 U.S.C. §§1311, 1319(c)(2)(A), 7 U.S.C. § 2149(d)). This case is related to the breeding, export, and sale of dogs for medical and scientific research purposes from a dog breeding facility located in Cumberland County, Virginia. In May 2022, officials rescued more than 4,000 beagles from the premises.

As part of the resolution, Inotiv, the parent corporation of Envigo RMS and Envigo Global Services, will guarantee more than $35 million in payments, be subject to increased animal care standards, and engage a compliance monitor. This resolution marks the largest agreed-to fine in an AWA case. Sentencing is scheduled for October 7, 2024.

Envigo RMS violated the AWA by failing to provide, among other things, adequate veterinary care, adequate staffing, and safe living conditions for dogs housed at the Cumberland County facility. In addition, Envigo Global Services violated the CWA by failing to properly operate and maintain the wastewater treatment plant at the Cumberland County facility, which led to massive unlawful discharges of insufficiently treated wastewater into a local waterway and also impacted the health and well-being of the dogs at the facility.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, the entities will complete between three and five years of probation and pay a total criminal fine of $22 million. In addition, the entities will pay approximately $1.1 million to the Virginia Animal Fighting Task Force and approximately $1.9 million to the Humane Society of the United States for direct assistance provided to the investigation.

An additional $3.5 million will be paid to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to benefit and restore the environment and ecosystems in Cumberland County, at least $500,000 of which will be spent on purchasing riparian wetland or riparian land located in or near Cumberland. They also will spend at least $7 million to improve their facilities and personnel over and above the standards required by the AWA.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Virginia State Police.

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United States v. Abdurrahman Korkmaz, et al.

• No. 2:24-CR-00073 (Eastern District of Louisiana)
• ECS Senior Litigation Counsel Richard Udell
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors
• AUSA Dall Kammer
• AUSA Chrissy Calogero
• ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris

On June 11, 2024, Abdurrahman Korkmaz pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging him with violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) and Obstruction of Proceedings (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a); 18 U.S.C. § 1505). Korkmaz is scheduled for sentencing on September 10, 2024.

Korkmaz was a Turkish citizen and master of the Motor Tanker PS Dream, a Panama-flagged chemical tanker. In January 2023, Korkmaz and the ship’s operator ordered the crew to perform an overboard discharge of the contents of a residual oil tank on deck. Over the course of several days, the crew used a portable pump to empty the tank before arriving in New Orleans and failed to report the conduct in the ship’s oil record books. Korkmaz also gave false statements to U.S. Coast Guard inspectors to conceal the discharge.

Two corporations that operated the vessel, Prive Shipping Denizcilik Ticaret and Prive Overseas Marine, pleaded guilty separately to APPS and obstruction violations.

The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

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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 June 12, 2024, Elite Diesel Service, Inc. (ED), and Troy Lake pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act (CAA) by tampering with and rendering inaccurate a monitoring device required under the CAA (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)). Sentencing is scheduled for September 4, 2024. This investigation involved multiple companies that tampered with diesel truck emissions control systems. Three of ED 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, (Endrizzi) 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 ED, a garage located in Colorado that specialized in remotely “tuning,” or overriding, the on-board diagnostic (OBD) computer software systems. Troy Lake co-owned and operated ED. 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 ED 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.

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United States v. Rafael Carballo-Díaz, et al.

• No. 3:23-CR-00441 (District of Puerto Rico)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan
• AUSA Seth Erbe
•  ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer

On June 14, 2024, Rafael Carballo-Díaz and Nathaniel Hernández-Claudio pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319(c)(2)(A)). Both are scheduled for sentencing on September 13, 2024. The charges relate to the illegal construction and deposit of material into the wetlands and waters of the United States in the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (Jobos Estuarine Reserve).

Between June 2018 and December 2023, the defendants knowingly discharged fill material from excavation and earth moving equipment into the wetlands and waters of the United States. Carballo-Díaz operated a guesthouse business called El Cacique Resort on the property located at the southwest of Camino del Indio in the Las Mareas area of Salinas, Puerto Rico. Hernández-Claudio acted as a host and property manager at the Resort.

The Jobos Estuarine Reserve was designated as a National Estuarine Research Reserve by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in 1981 and is comprised of approximately 2,800 acres of coastal ecosystems in the southern coastal plain of Puerto Rico. The Jobos Estuarine Reserve 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 Caribbean Environmental Crimes Task Force conducted the investigation. Agencies include: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. 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.

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United States v. Andrew Laughlin

• No. 2:24-CR-00104 (Eastern District of California)
• AUSA Kathryn Lydon

On June 24, 204, Andrew Laughlin pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling goods into the United States (18 U.S.C. § 545). Sentencing is scheduled for October 7, 2024.

In 2017, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents identified Andrew Laughlin as part of a nationwide investigation into the smuggling of turtles from the United States to an individual in Hong Kong (Individual A). Individual A met and maintained contact with certain wildlife-smuggling associates via Facebook. Investigators identified Laughlin as a suspect in the wildlife smuggling ring from Individual A's Facebook contacts and communications with covert agents. In addition to corresponding on Facebook, Laughlin also sent text messages to Individual A and co-conspirators.

Between March and April 2018, Laughlin acted as a “middleman” in an international amphibian smuggling ring. During a conversation with an undercover agent, Laughlin said that he participated in the ring in order to acquire hard-to-find newts. He shipped or received at least four packages of amphibians, including packages to or from individuals located in Hong Kong and Sweden. The packages were falsely labeled as items including a “toy car,” “rubber toys,” or “a ceramic art piece.” The boxes actually contained live animals including eastern box turtles, spotted turtles, fire belly newts, Asian warty newts, and newts native to California.

A search warrant executed on the defendant’s residence uncovered 81 live newts of various species. Some seized newts tested positive for Bd, a virulent fungus which originated in Asia and has spread throughout the illegal pet trade. Scientists estimate that Bd has caused significant declines in the populations of at least 500 species, more than 90 of which are presumed extinct.

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

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Sentencings

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United States v.  Roberto Guimary Machado

• No. 4:23-CR-00382 (Southern District of Texas)
• AUSA Robert S. Johnson

On June 4, 2024, a court sentenced Roberto Guimaray Machado to pay a $500 fine and complete a two-year term of probation, after pleading guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. § 707(b)(2)). Machado was one of six Cuban nationals residing in Houston who illegally trafficked in migratory songbirds.

The scheme involved the illegal trapping and selling of protected songbirds, including indigo buntings, painted buntings, rose-breasted grosbeaks, blue grosbeaks, and house finches, among others. The birds are often used in singing competitions in which the participating owners gamble thousands of dollars on the winning bird, a practice common in Cuba and elsewhere. The birds migrate from Canada, through Texas, to South America. They are trapped as they pass through the Houston area, commonly using a live “bait bird” whose singing attracts other birds to the trap. 

The investigation led to the seizure of over 300 illegally trapped songbirds. They were turned over to the Houston Zoo and Moody Gardens where they were evaluated and photographed. Healthy birds were released to the wild, while those that were too sick or injured to survive unaided will remain under the care of the zoos.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation with the assistance of Texas Game Wardens.

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United States v. Othel L. Pearson

• No. 9:24-CR-00004 (District of Montana)
• AUSA Randy Tanner

On June 11, 2024, a court sentenced Othel L. Pearson to two months’ incarceration followed by three years’ supervised release, with the first four months served on home detention. Pearson also will pay a $10,000 fine. Pearson pleaded guilty to violations related to tampering with evidence derived from the shooting and killing of an endangered grizzly bear on his property (18 U.SC. § 1512(c)(1)); 16 U.S.C. § 1538(a)(1)(G)).

In November 2020, Pearson shot and killed a sow grizzly bear on his residential property using a .270 rifle. Pearson cut off a GPS collar that had been fitted to the bear and discarded the collar nearby in the Yaak River. Pearson also cut paws, ear tags, and an identifying lip tattoo from the bear carcass. Pearson then concealed the bear’s claws and an ear tag in a hollowed-out tree on National Forest System land near his residence. Pearson also failed to report the killing of the grizzly bear to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service within five days as required. Pearson also will forfeit the rifle and scope.

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

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United States v. Jose Lema

• No. 23-CR-00535 (Southern District of New York)
•  AUSA Margery Feinzig

On June 12, 2024, a court sentenced Jose Lema to four months’ incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release. Lema pleaded guilty to willfully violating Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) regulations, causing the death of an employee (Victim 1) in February 2022.

Lema is the founder of ALJ Home Improvement, Inc., a New York roofing company. On February 8, 2022, Lema sent Victim 1 and three other ALJ employees to install a roof on a three-story multi-family apartment building under construction in New Square, New York. Victim 1 and the other employees ascended a ladder to the roof, but within 20 to 30 minutes of arriving at the worksite, Victim 1 fell off the roof onto the ground approximately 30 feet below. He died from his injuries. Victim 1 was wearing a safety harness, but there was nothing connecting his harness to the roof, nor were there anchors on the roof to which the harness could be connected. OSHA cited ALJ for failing to ensure its employees used fall protection systems.

Lema has a history of worker endangerment violations. OSHA previously investigated six other incidents and issued citations. On February 27, 2019, an ALJ employee (Victim 2) slipped off the roof of a newly constructed three-story home in Kiamesha Lake, New York, falling 35 feet to the ground, and subsequently perished from his injuries. OSHA determined that Victim 2 was not wearing a safety harness and issued citations to ALJ for, among other things, failure to ensure employees wear fall protection systems. ALJ settled and agreed to pay a penalty.

Between February 2019 and February 2022, there were five more incidents in which Lema exposed his employees to fall hazards but only paid a penalty to OSHA. In August 2022, following the death of Victim 1, ALJ employees were working on an 18-foot roof in New Jersey, without any apparent fall protection. They were wearing harnesses that were not secured to the roof. OSHA issued more citations, including willful failure to ensure employees wear fall protection systems.

Between 2019 and 2023, OSHA conducted eight investigations, issuing 24 willful citations and 16 serious citations, with Lima paying $2.3 million in penalties.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration, and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

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United States v. Tip the Scale LLC, dba LD Kitchen and Bath

• No. 3:24-CR-05103 (Western District of Washington)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan

On June 13, 2024, a court sentenced Tip the Scale LLC, dba LD Kitchen and Bath (LDKB), following the acceptance of its guilty plea. The company will pay a $110,000 criminal fine into the Lacey Act Reward Fund and an additional $250,000 administrative Customs penalty. LDKB also will complete a three-year term of probation and implement an environmental compliance plan. LDKB pleaded guilty to a one-count information charging importation by means of false statements for falsely declaring timber imports (18 U.S.C. § 542).

LDKB is an importer and retailer of wood cabinets and vanities based in Tacoma, Washington. Starting in early 2020, LDKB declared imports of wooden cabinets as various false species of timber that had been harvested and exported in Malaysia. By doing so, the company evaded more than $800,000 in duties on Chinese-produced cabinets. Investigation and forensic testing at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Laboratory showed that the cabinets and vanities were made from temperate species that did not grow in Malaysia, and that the products had been exported from China. As part of the agreement, LDKB has paid more than $800,000 in outstanding duties, and forfeited three shipping containers of wooden cabinets, which were donated to a local chapter of Habitat for Humanity.

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

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United States v. Nicole D. Devilbiss

• No. 3:23-CR-00153 (Middle District of Florida)
• AUSA Ashley Washington
• AUSA Elisibeth Adams

On June 18, 2024, a court sentenced Nicole D. Devilbiss to four years and three months incarceration for conspiracy to create and distribute animal crush videos (18 U.S.C. § 371).

Devilbiss administered an online group chat that was created for the purpose of funding, viewing, and distributing animal crush videos depicting the abuse, torture, and death of monkeys.

Devilbiss and co-conspirators funded the creation of animal crush videos by paying other co-conspirators outside of the United States to create the videos. Law enforcement retrieved numerous videos depicting the torture of monkeys from Devilbiss’s residence during a search warrant.

The Clay County Sheriff’s Office, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

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United States v. Luis Enrique Rodriguez-Sanchez, et al.

• Nos. 3:23-CR-00186, 00185, 00440 (District of Puerto Rico)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan
• AUSA Seth Erbe

On June 25, 2024, a court sentenced Luis Enrique Rodriguez-Sanchez to an 18-month term of probation and to perform 50 hours of community service. Rodriguez-Sanchez participated in illegal construction projects that involved dumping fill material into protected wetlands. Rodriguez-Sanchez pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA), as did Awildo Jimenez-Mercado. Pedro Luis Bones-Torres pleaded guilty to violating the CWA and the Rivers and Harbors Act (RHA) (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319(c)(2)(A), 403, 406).

Rodriguez-Sanchez owned a rock quarry, trucks for moving quarry material, and 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 Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (Jobos Estuarine Reserve) and the Las Mareas community of Salinas, Puerto Rico. They also built structures (a dock and a concrete boat ramp) without obtaining the necessary permits from the Army Corps of Engineers.

Awildo Jimenez occupied one of the properties, which consisted almost entirely of wetlands within the Reserve. In 2020, Jimenez filled it in, and built a 120-ft dock on the water. The property now contains a permanent home, a mobile home, an in-ground pool with a concrete patio, and a septic system. He rents the homes on Airbnb as "Hidden Paradise 2 and 3."

Officials with NOAA designated the Jobos Estuarine Reserve 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 Jobos Estuarine Reserve 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. Bones-Torres is scheduled for sentencing on July 24, 2024; and Jimenez-Mercado is scheduled for July 31, 2024.

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.

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United States v. Boyd Farm LLC, et al.

• Nos. 3:24-CR-00091, 3:24-mj-00061 (Eastern District of Virginia)
• ECS Trial Attorney Elise Kent Bernanke
• AUSA Michael Moore
• ECS Paralegal Jonah Fruchtman

On June 27, 2024, a court sentenced Boyd Farm LLC and its owner Frazier T. Boyd, III, for filling wetlands in violation of the Clean Water Act (CWA) in Goochland and Louisa Counties, Virginia (33 U.S.C. §§ 1319(c)(2)(A), (c)(1)(A)). The company will pay a $300,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. Boyd was sentenced to 30 days home confinement and a year of probation.

Between 2017 and 2019, Boyd and his company directed workers to excavate, remove vegetation, and grade land at three sites in Virginia’s Piedmont region. The work left behind piles of dirt, stumps, and woody debris (known as slash). Operators hired by Boyd Farm then placed debris from those piles into wetlands and streams at the properties. The defendants did not obtain the proper permits for this activity despite knowing they were required to do so. In 2015, the Environmental Protection Agency issued Boyd Farm an Administrative Order requiring compliance with the CWA, including restoring impacted wetlands and streams at another property in Goochland County where unpermitted discharges had occurred.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality.

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