Corporate Crime Case Database

Consistent with the Department’s ongoing commitment to transparency in corporate crime cases, the DOJ launched a new case database. While it is still in the process of being populated, it will eventually contain the significant, relevant cases from each component and U.S. Attorney’s Office, resolved since the beginning of 2023.

United States v. Quality Poultry and Seafood, et al.,

On August 27, 2024, Quality Poultry and Seafood (QPS), sales manager Todd Anthoney Rosetti, and business manager James William Gunkel, pleaded guilty to charges stemming from the sale of mislabeled seafood. Sentencing is scheduled for December 11, 2024.

QPS sells poultry and seafood to a few hundred Mississippi-area restaurants, casinos, and grocery stores, and operates its own retail market and cafe. It is the largest seafood distributor on the Mississippi Gulf coast. From 2002 through 2019, QPS sold to its retail customers mislabeled seafood and sold to its wholesale customers fish that QPS either fraudulently mislabeled or offered to restaurants as convincing substitutes for the preferred local species that the restaurants advertised, identified in their menus, and charged their customers for serving. For more than a year following the execution of a search warrant, QPS continued to sell frozen fish imported from Africa, South America and India for use as substitutes for local premium species.

QPS pleaded guilty to conspiring to misbrand food with the intent to defraud and for the use of interstate wire transmissions to facilitate the sale of misbranded fish (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1343; 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(k), 333(a)(2)). QPS Sales Manager Todd Anthony Rosetti, and Business Manager James William Gunkel pleaded guilty to seafood misbranding (21 U.S.C. §§ 331(k), 343(a), (b), 333(a)(1)).

Co-defendant’s Mary Mahoney's Old French House restaurant (Mahoney's) and co-owner Charles Cvitanovich previously pleaded guilty for their involvement in the scheme. Mahoney’s pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand seafood and wire fraud. Cvitanovich pleaded guilty to misbranding seafood (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1343; 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(k), 333(a)(2)). Mahoney’s and Cvitanovich are scheduled for sentencing on November 18, 2024.

Between December 2013 and November 2019, Mahoney and co-conspirators fraudulently sold approximately 58,750 pounds (more than 29 tons) of fish that was frozen and imported from Africa, India, and South America as local premium species. Between 2018 and 2019, Cvitanovich mislabeled approximately 17,190 pounds of fish sold at the restaurant. QPS supplied seafood to Mahoney’s and many other restaurants and retailers.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations conducted the investigation.

United States v. Domermuth Environmental Services, LLC, et al.

On August 20, 2024, Domermuth Environmental Services, LLC, (DES) and Christopher Domermuth pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act for knowingly discharging pollutants into a water of the United States without a permit (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311, 1319(c)(2)(A)). Sentencing is scheduled for December 12, 2024.

On July 26, 2018, a pole camera installed on property adjacent to the DES facility filmed workers rolling over a previously exhumed underground storage tank, which spilled a mixture of petroleum and water onto a concrete pad at the facility. The workers, including Christopher Domermuth, threw absorbent pads into the spilled mixture and then used a portable pump to pump the oily mixture over a retaining wall at DES. The oily mixture flowed over a neighboring property and into a culvert leading to the Holston River, a tributary of the Tennessee River.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the EPA Office of Inspector General, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tennessee Valley Authority Office of Inspector General, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation conducted the investigation.

U.S. v. Juan Carlos Aponte Tolentino

Juan Carlos Aponte Tolentino, formerly Interim President of a steel distributor in San Juan, Puerto Rico, knowingly entered into a conspiracy with competitors to suppress and eliminate competition by fixing wholesale prices for rebar distributed to hardware stores, contractors, and other businesses and individuals in Puerto Rico. The charged conspiracy began in January 2015 and continued until November 2022. Aponte pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge on August 7, 2024. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 8, 2024.

United States v. Northridge Construction Corp., et al.

On August 6, 2024, a court sentenced Northridge Construction Corporation to pay a $100,000 fine and complete a five-year term of probation. The company pleaded guilty to violating the Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) causing the death of a company employee (29 U.S.C. § 666(e)). Supervisor Richard Zagger pleaded guilty to conspiracy and obstruction of official proceedings (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1505). Zagger is scheduled for sentencing on October 16, 2024.

In 2018, a Northridge employee died after falling from an improperly secured roof during the construction of a shed. Zagger oversaw the project as Northridge employees built a metal shed on the Northridge property. During the construction, one of the employees fell from the improperly secured roof and died from his injuries.

OSHA regulations require companies and employers to maintain the stability of a metal structure during construction. Northridge pleaded guilty to violating this worker safety standard and to making two false statements that obstructed OSHA’s investigation into the employee’s death.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration conducted the investigation.

U.S. v. David A. Coppola

United States v. GDP Tuning, et al.

On July 30, 2024, a court sentenced Barry Pierce and his two companies, GDP Tuning and Custom Auto of Rexburg, d/b/a Gorilla Performance for tampering with e missions control systems and selling tampering software. Pierce will serve four months’ incarceration. GDP Tuning and Gorilla Performance will complete five-year terms of probation. All defendants were ordered to jointly pay a $1 million fine.

Between 2016 and 2020, the defendants tampered with a required monitoring device by removing emissions control devices (often referred to as “ deleting” ) from more than 200 diesel trucks and reprogrammed (“ tuned” ) the onboard diagnostic systems to enable them to function without the emissions equipment. Pierce told Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) inspectors in 2018 that his companies sold kits to delete trucks and products to tune them, including tunes and tuners. In response to EPA’ s later follow-up, GDP Tuning produced sales data indicating that it sold more than 20,000 tuning products for approximately $14 million in revenue acquired between January 2018 and August 2019.

The defendants pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. § 7413).

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

United States v. Boyd Farm LLC, et al.

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.

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

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, that 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.

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

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.

United States v. AMVAC Chemical Corporation, et al.

On May 24, 2024, AMVAC Chemical Corporation (AMVAC) pleaded guilty to a RCRA transportation violation (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(5)). Sentencing is scheduled for October 25, 2024.

AMVAC is a pesticide manufacturer that produced a pesticide called “Thimet” in Alabama and exported it to Canada, Australia, and other countries. Thimet is an organophosphate insecticide used to control crop pests by absorption into the crop plants themselves. In 2013, authorities determined that AMVAC was importing tens of thousands of used containers of Thimet through Savannah, Georgia; Port Huron, Michigan; Boston, Massachusetts; and Los Angeles, California. Some of the containers were nearly empty, while others were partially full. The containers were designed to attach directly to farming equipment and then returned to AMVAC after they were emptied.

The containers were not labeled as containing hazardous waste but as containing product (pesticide) for reformulation. However, AMVAC was not authorized by the EPA to reformulate the Thimet. The active ingredient in Thimet is “phorate,” a RCRA acute hazardous waste. AMVAC is a large quantity generator of hazardous waste, with specific, known responsibilities under RCRA. AMVAC subsequently told EPA that the pesticide in the containers was being imported for disposal. AMVAC failed to use hazardous manifests to transport the containers of waste Thimet to its Alabama facility. The plea agreement settles the case with AMVAC through a felony plea to knowingly transporting unmanifested hazardous waste.

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

United States v. TPC Group LLC

On May 21, 2024, TPC Group LLC, pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act. This case is part of a global resolution negotiated in coordination with EES, arising out of explosions that caused injuries, evacuations, and significant air pollution. The company has agreed to pay more than $30 million in criminal fines and civil penalties and spend approximately $80 million to improve its risk management program and improve safety issues at TPC Group’s Port Neches and Houston facilities.

On November 27, 2019, two explosions at TPC Group’s Port Neches facility prompted evacuations of thousands of residents from the City of Port Neches and surrounding areas, released more than 11 million pounds of extremely hazardous substances, and caused more than $130 million in offsite property damage and other impacts to human health and the environment. Four employees and one contractor suffered injuries including concussions, burns, perforated eardrums, tinnitus and cracked teeth.

TPC Group’s facility produced Butadiene, a hazardous chemical used in the production of tires, latexes, and plastics. Butadiene can form a “popcorn polymer,” which can grow at an accelerating rate and cause catastrophic events, including explosions and fires. The company was aware that this polymer was forming in some of its production lines, and knew the risks it posed, but failed to take necessary measures to prevent the explosion. An initial explosion occurred at the facility’s South Unit, followed by a secondary explosion, and a series of fires erupted at the facility blowing contaminants into the air.

As a result of the explosions, authorities ordered mandatory evacuations for residents within a four-mile radius of the facility. Voluntary orders to shelter in place were issued for residents in the surrounding area and local schools were closed for multiple days to allow buildings to be cleaned, repaired, and inspected.

Under parallel settlements seeking to resolve the criminal and civil cases, the company has agreed to pay $18 million in criminal fines. The plea agreement also includes a one-year term of probation and publishing of a public apology. The $12.1 million in civil penalty payments will be made through bankruptcy proceedings. TPC Group will also spend approximately $80 million to improve its risk management program and improve safety issues at both facilities. TPC Group has agreed to plead guilty to knowingly failing to implement its own written operating procedures, including monthly flushing of production lines, that would have prevented the explosion. Clean Air Act regulations require planning to prevent accidental releases of hazardous chemicals and makes implementation of those plans mandatory.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division EPA investigated this matter and received extensive cooperation from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).