Category: MIL-OSI

• No. 1:26-mj-01211 (District of Massachusetts)
• AUSA Danial Bennett

On April 13, 2026, authorities arrested Corey Elliott on a complaint charging him with participating in a multi-year dog fighting conspiracy that involved breeding, training, and fighting dogs, as well as illegal gambling activities (18 U.S.C. § 371).

Between March 2018 and June 2023, Elliott and a co-conspirator operated a dog fighting venture, “The No Name Gang,” through which they possessed, bred, trained and fought dogs for sport and profit. The defendant and his co-conspirator maintained a close partnership for several years. During that time, they communicated extensively about dog fighting activities, arranging fights, discussing outcomes, placing wagers and coordinating the acquisition, sale and conditioning of dogs for fighting purposes.

Elliott was directly involved in organizing and hosting dog fighting events, including ones held at his residence in Carver, Massachusetts, where he helped to construct the kennel and fighting pits. The defendants coordinated plans for specific fights, discussing which dogs to use, the locations, and necessary preparations. 

Elliott killed dogs that did not perform as desired, disposed of deceased animals, and worked to conceal evidence of dog fighting activity. To do so he used coded language, concealed dogs from public view, and relocated dogs to avoid potential seizure.

Investigators searched the co-conspirator’s residence in June 2023 and seized multiple pit bull-type dogs. Law enforcement also found evidence consistent with dog fighting activity, including veterinary supplies, and equipment associated with dog fighting. Analysis of electronic devices seized revealed numerous videos and communications related to dog fighting, including messages between Elliott and his co-conspirator spanning several years.

During a search of Elliott’s residence in June 2025, authorities seized multiple pit bull-type dogs from an outdoor kennel area. Several dogs exhibited scarring consistent with dog fighting. They also recovered dog pedigrees, harnesses, leashes, syringes, and veterinary medications, as well as equipment used to train and condition dogs.

The following agencies conducted the investigation:

U.S. Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General; Massachusetts State Police; Animal Rescue League of Boston Law Enforcement Division; Homeland Security Investigations; U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives; U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service; U.S. Marshals Service; Maine State Police; New Hampshire State Police; Massachusetts Office of the State Auditor; Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; and the Acton, Boston, Carver and Hanson Police Departments. 

Photo of backyard kennels, included in the Press Release

• No. 4:26-CR-00008 (Middle District of Georgia)
• AUSA Leah McEwen

On April 14, 2026, prosecutors charged Christopher Jones with violating the Clean Water Act and making a false statement (33 U.S.C. § 1319(c)(2)(A); 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)).

Jones owned a business called Jones Water and Wastewater Consulting (JWWC). JWWC and Jones contracted with the city of Fort Gaines to operate its Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW). Jones was responsible for ensuring compliance with the POTW’s National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit and submitting discharge monitoring reports (DMRs) to the proper authorities.

Between July 8, 2025, and July 9, 2025, Jones discharged effluent into the Chattahoochee River from the POTW exceeding the NPDES permitted levels for coliform bacteria. Additionally, between July 23, 2025, and August 13, 2025, Jones submitted falsified DMRs stating that the tests he ran for coliform levels showed compliance with the permitted levels, when the test results actually exceeded those levels.

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

• No. 2:26-CR-00040 (Western District of Pennsylvania)
• ECS Trial Attorney Emily Stone
• AUSA Nicole Vasquez Schmitt

On April 1, 2026, Joseph Garrett Buckland pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Create and Distribute Animal Crush Videos (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(2), 48(a)(3)). Sentencing is scheduled for October 29, 2026.

Buckland participated in Telegram groups dedicated to creating and distributing custom-made sexual torture videos of baby monkeys. Buckland and his co-conspirators used cryptocurrency to pay video creators in Southeast Asia to film the crush videos. Buckland maintained an archive of videos over which he controlled the distribution.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

• No. 0:26-CR-00021 (Eastern District of Kentucky)
•  AUSA Emily Greenfield

On April 14, 2026, Joshua Ferguson pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act for illegally discharging a pollutant into a water of the United States without a permit (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a),1319(c)(2)(A)). Sentencing is scheduled for August 10, 2026.

Ferguson was the owner and operator of oil production wells in Lawrence County, Kentucky. He maintained production wells and tanks to collect wastewater, known as “produced” or “brine” water, which is a pollutant. On September 3, 2025, Ferguson discharged a tank containing brine water into the Left Fork Blaine Creek through a hose.

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

• Nos. 2:26-CR-00062; 2:25-mj-01106 (Eastern District of Pennsylvania, District of New Jersey)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney RJ Powers
• ECS Paralegal Jillian Grubb

On April 15, 2026, Daniel Shaw-Amoah pleaded guilty to violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) for selling an unregistered pesticide (Sniper DDVP) to a storeowner in New Jersey (7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(l)(A), 136l(b)(1)(B)).

Angela Amponsa owned the New Jersey African Caribbean Market in Hamilton, New Jersey. In May 2023, Shaw-Amoah sold Amponsa 96 100 milliliter bottles of this pesticide. On two separate occasions, an undercover Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) agent purchased these illegal pesticides from Amponsa. 

In November 2025, a court sentenced Amponsa ito pay a $10,000 fine and complete a two-year term of probation for violating FIFRA. 

The U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation. 

• No. 26-CR-00064 (Western District of Pennsylvania)
• ECS Trial Attorney Emily Stone
• AUSA Kelly Locher

On April 15, 2026, Amanda Leigh Fourez pleaded guilty to Conspiracy to Create Animal Crush Videos and Distribution of Animal Crush Videos (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(3)). Sentencing is scheduled for August 27, 2026. 

Fourez participated in Telegram groups dedicated to creating and distributing sexual torture videos of baby monkeys. Fourez and her co-conspirators used cryptocurrency to pay video creators in Southeast Asia to film the crush videos. Fourez has admitted to sending thousands of dollars to video creators and commissioning between 50 and100 videos. 

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation. 

• No. 5:25-CR-00844 (District of South Carolina)
• AUSA Elle Klein

On April 15, 2026, Desmond Levon Brown pleaded guilty to violating the PACT act (Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act) for burning a puppy alive.

On December 18, 2024, the Orangeburg County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) received reports of a Facebook Live video showing Brown throwing a puppy into a fire on that day. Deputies discovered the deceased puppy in a wooded area near the incident location.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the OCSO.

• No. 3:25-CR-00196 (Middle District of Tennessee)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Matthew Morris
• AUSA Ahmed A. Safeeullah
• ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris

On April 22, 2026, Caleb Warran Randall pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (18 U.S.C. § 371). Sentencing is scheduled for August 4, 2026. Co-defendant David Ray Stark is charged with conspiracy and Clean Water Act violations for bypassing treatment processes and tampering with a monitoring device at a Nashville waste treatment facility (18 U.S.C. § 371; 33 U.S.C. §§ 1319(c)(2)(A), (c)(4)). 

Stark was the Facility Operations Manager and Randall was the Plant Supervisor at a facility operated by Allwaste Onsite, doing business as Onsite Environmental (Onsite). As part of the conspiracy, Stark and Randall directed Onsite employees to discharge untreated and partially treated wastewater into the Nashville sewer system in December 2022 and January 2023. Stark and Randall also tampered with and caused Onsite employees to tamper with a sampling device that the Nashville Metro Water Services (MWS) had installed to monitor Onsite’s compliance with its pretreatment permit.

Onsite was sentenced in December 2025 to pay a $512,000 fine and complete a three-year term of probation. The $512,000 fine represents $16,000 per day of bypassing. As a special condition of its probation, Onsite must comply with a consent order previously issued by a state court that requires Onsite to enact a facility operating plan. Pursuant to the consent order, Onsite paid $86,628 to MWS for expenses related to sewer repairs and clean-up, $299,576 for surcharges related to pollutant exceedances, and $50,387 for water and sewer charges. The company will also implement several plant and equipment upgrades.

The U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division and its Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

• No. 3:26-CR-00614 (Western District of Texas)
• AUSA Stanley M. Serwatka

On April 28, 2026, Moises Alonso Gonzalez pleaded guilty to one count of smuggling goods into the United States (18 U.S.C. § 545). Sentencing is scheduled for July 21, 2026.

On February 10, 2025, Gonzalez attempted to smuggle 11 white fronted amazon parrots into the United States via the pedestrian lane at the Paso Del Norte Port of Entry in El Paso, Texas. After saying he had nothing to declare, customs officers noticed how gently he handled a blue water jug he was carrying. Officers opened the jug and found a bird inside. They also searched his duffel bag and found a box holding 10 more birds. All 11 were identified as white fronted amazon parrots, a species protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Gonzalez admitted that another person paid him $225 to conceal and transport the parrots across the border.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation, with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. 

• No. 3:26-CR-00172 (District of Puerto Rico)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Patrick Duggan
• AUSA Seth Erbe

On April 30, 2026, Orlando Rivera-Alejandro pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act for construction and filling activities on a property in the Las Mareas area of Salinas, Puerto Rico (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319(c)(2)(A)). Sentencing is scheduled for September 1, 2026.

Between January 2020 and March 2022, Rivera-Alejandro placed fill material in Mar Negro, within the waters of the United States, and within the Jobos Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (JBNERR). He built multiple structures on top of the filled area, including a gazebo and a concrete boat ramp. He also constructed a dock and numerous concrete-filled PVC poles in the area, discharging concrete directly into Mar Negro during the construction. Rivera-Alejandro did not seek or receive approval or permits to fill the area or to engage in construction within Mar Negro. 

The JBNERR was designated as a reserve in 1981 to protect the wetlands and study the biological and societal impacts of estuarine habitat, as well as provide recreation and educational opportunities to local communities. The Reserve is home to the endangered brown pelican, peregrine falcon, hawksbill turtle, and West Indian manatee. 

This case is part of an ongoing investigation into the destruction of wetlands in Puerto Rico. Previously convicted individuals include Luis Enrique Rodríguez-Sánchez, sentenced in June 2024; Awildo Jiménez-Mercado, Rafael Carballo-Diaz, and Nathaniel Hernandez-Claudio, sentenced in September 2024; and Pedro Luis Bones-Torres, sentenced in March 2025.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation. Both agencies participate in the Puerto Rico and U.S. Virgin Islands Environmental Crimes Task Force.

• Nos. 8:24-CR-00484, 8:20-CR-00401 (Middle District of Florida)
• AUSA Erin Claire Favorit 
• AUSA Abigail K. King

On March 24, 2026, a court sentenced Jimmy Wayne Hammonds to nine months’ incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. He will pay a $60,000 fine, which will be deposited in the Lacey Act Reward Fund. Hammonds pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and Lacey Act trafficking (18 U.S.C. § 371; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), (a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(1)(B)). Hammonds was already under court supervision, following a 2022 conviction for the same criminal behavior. 

Hammonds did not possess the required USDA licenses for selling or transporting animals, nor did he have any of the required Florida or Georgia licenses. 

Hammonds ran The Monkey Whisperer, LLC, a business that specialized in selling primates and other exotic animals. Through the company’s social media account, Hammonds connected with an individual who was an undercover agent. Hammonds proposed moving the conversations to an encrypted texting app to discuss potential wildlife sales. In October 2024, Hammonds sold the undercover agent two common marmosets for $7,400. Hammonds arranged for the transaction to occur in Georgia to avoid law enforcement oversight. Hammonds did not possess permits required under Georgia Law, which control how wild animal transactions are handled.

On April 2, 2026, a court also sentenced Hammond to serve four months’ incarceration and 30 months’ supervised release for his probation violation, which will run concurrently with the sentence imposed for his more recent trafficking crimes.

Hammonds also surrendered ownership of 67 animals including a variety of primates, muntjac deer, lemurs, kangaroos, wallabies, and otters.

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

Photo of common marmosets from press release

• No. 1:24-CR-10171 (District of Massachusetts)
• AUSA Jason Casey 
• AUSA Carol Head

On April 2, 2026, a court sentenced Adam Bied to eight months of incarceration, followed by two years of supervised release, and to pay a $75,000 fine.

Bied pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy for smuggling wildlife parts into the United States and two counts of Lacey Act trafficking (18 U.S.C. § 371; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(1)(A)). The wildlife species that Bied trafficked are all listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). 

Between January 2018 through June 2021, Bied bought, sold, and traded wildlife parts and products, knowing that many of the transactions violated U.S. laws and regulations. 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 inspectors upon import. Instead, Bied and his co-conspirators concealed wildlife parts from U.S. authorities by falsely labeling them, for example, as “decorative masks” and “rodents.”

Bied also consented to the civil forfeiture of 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 vehicle.

Among the seized wildlife parts were skulls from the following species: pangolin, orangutan, chimpanzee, tiger, polar bear, elephant seal, and jackal. 

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

Photos from Press Release of jaguar and leopard skins seized from Bied’s residence

• No. 1:26-CR-10020 (Western District of Tennessee)
• AUSA Adam Chase Davis

On April 6, 2026, a court sentenced four hunters for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 703(a), 707). Stephen Lee Fincher, a former U.S. Representative from Tennessee, will pay a $7,500 fine, forfeit a shotgun, and complete a one-year term of probation, during which he is banned from hunting. Co-defendants Noah Tritt Fincher, Austin Lee Fincher, and Will Hunter Carson were each ordered to pay $2,500 fines and also lost their hunting privileges for one year. All fines will be paid to the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund.

In January 2025, the hunters killed 35 ducks, exceeding the legal limit of 24. Fincher also possessed a shotgun capable of holding more than three shells. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.

• No. 9:25-CR-01288 (District of South Carolina)
• AUSA Elle Klein

On April 7, 2026, a court sentenced John Trask to pay a $10,000 fine and serve a one-year term of probation. Trask pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(2)). 

In September 2023, Trask acquired a green sea turtle head, a species listed on Appendix 1 of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. 

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

• No. 1:25-CR-00002 (District of New Hampshire)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney RJ Powers
• AUSA Matthew Hunter
• ECS Paralegal Jillian Grubb

On April 10, 2026, a court sentenced Old Dutch Mustard Company, Inc., d/b/a Pilgrim Foods Company (Old Dutch), and company owner and president Charles Santich. Santich will serve 18 months’ incarceration, followed by one year of supervised release, and pay a $250,000 fine. The company will pay a $1.5 million fine, complete a five-year term of probation, and establish environmental compliance and ethics programs. The defendants pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319(c)(2)(A)). 

Old Dutch manufactured vinegar and mustard products, generating acidic wastewater during the process. Old Dutch did not have a permit to discharge process wastewater. Instead, it stored this wastewater in tanks, and a trucking company hauled one or two truckloads off-site daily to the Rochester Publicly Owned Treatment Works (POTW). Old Dutch paid the trucking company for transporting each load. A second wastewater stream consisted of stormwater that became acidic after flowing through areas of the facility where vinegar had spilled. Old Dutch also paid the trucking company to haul this acidic stormwater to the POTW.

Due to a long history of CWA non-compliance beginning in the 1980s, Old Dutch Mustard has been subject to several enforcement actions by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (NHDES), and the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. As a result of these actions, EPA and NHDES required continuous monitoring of an unnamed stream that flows underneath and in front of the facility, eventually flowing into the Souhegan River. Santich and his company took many steps to evade this monitoring.

Santich reduced costs by ordering workers to discharge some of the wastewater to a manmade ditch at the top of a hill behind the facility, from which the wastewater would flow into the Souhegan. In May 2017, Santich hired an excavation company to extend an underground pipe to the top of the hill behind the facility. He then directed an employee to repeatedly pump wastewater through the underground pipe to the ditch. Once the process wastewater or contaminated stormwater discharged at the top of the hill, it flowed to the river. Old Dutch was not permitted to discharge pollutants into the river.

In March 2021, Santich directed the same excavation company to install a sump at the corner of the tank farm area to collect the acidic stormwater and pump it directly up the hill through the buried pipe. In late 2022, Santich hired the excavation company to clean out the undergrowth in the manmade ditch at the top of the hill and line it with riprap to better facilitate the flow of wastewater to the river. 

On August 2, 2023, EPA agents executed a search warrant at the Old Dutch facility and witnessed this illegal activity. Agents observed liquid that smelled like vinegar discharging from the end of the underground pipe into the riprap-lined ditch. A sample of the wastewater discharge had a pH of 3.6. 

The U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation, with assistance from the NH DES.

• No. 1:23-CR-00123 (Southern District of Indiana)
• AUSA Michelle Brady
• AUSA Lindsay E. Karwoski
• AUSA Adam Eakman
• AUSA Kelly Rota
• AUSA Bob Wood

On April 14, 2026, a court sentenced Ernest Young to eight months’ incarceration, followed by two years of supervised release, and to pay a $1,000 fine. Young pleaded guilty to conspiracy to engage in an animal fighting venture and sponsoring or exhibiting an animal in an animal fighting venture (18 U.S.C. § 371; 7 U.S.C. § 2156 (a)(1)).

Young is one of 31 defendants charged for their roles in an armed international drug trafficking and dog fighting ring in central Indiana. Of this group, 13 defendants maintained dogs for the purpose of fighting or served as handlers for dogs during fights.

In September 2023, investigators uncovered this large-scale dog fighting and illegal gambling operation based in Indianapolis during the course of a broader drug trafficking investigation. Authorities have rescued more than 100 dogs to date. 

From approximately July 2020 through August 2023, the group of 13 engaged in a variety of activities associated with dog fighting and gambling. More than a dozen videos of dog fights recovered from the defendants’ cell phones and Facebook messages show extremely violent encounters lasting several minutes, during which the dogs suffered significant injuries. Some videos also reveal evidence of dogs that were killed by defendants for underperforming in these fights.

During searches of the defendants’ residences, law enforcement seized multiple firearms, ammunition, and extensive dog‑fighting paraphernalia, including training equipment, canine medical supplies, and trophies. 

The Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Office of Inspector General; the Drug Enforcement Administration; the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; the Indiana Gaming Commission, and the Indianapolis Metro Police Department conducted the investigation.

• No. 2:25-CR-00128 (District of Maine)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors
• AUSA Nicholas Scott

On April 16, 2026, a court sentenced Sergey Bachkovsky to complete a one-year term of probation and forfeit whale, eagle, bird, and bear parts. The court found that the defendant was unable to pay a fine.

Bachkovsky pleaded guilty to a felony Lacey Act trafficking violation for importing and reselling whale parts and bird mounts contrary to the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(1)(B)).

Between June 2023 and March 2024, Bachkovsky sold sperm whale teeth, blue and Antarctic minke whale ear bones, bear paws, and a broad-winged hawk carcass on eBay. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation, with assistance from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement.

• Nos. 2:25-CR-00083, 2:26-CR-00011 (Eastern District of Kentucky)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Matthew T. Morris
• AUSA Emily Greenfield
• ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris

On April 17, 2026, a court sentenced GOTEC Plus Sun, LLC, (GOTEC) for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) hazardous waste storage provision (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)). The company will pay a $270,000 fine and complete a one-year term of probation. General Manager Natalie Fehse was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a five-year term of probation, including 10 months of home detention, for the same charge. 

GOTEC applied coatings and adhesives to metal automotive parts and generated hazardous waste when the manufacturing equipment was cleaned of overspray. The Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection inspected the facility in June 2024 and discovered 249 drums and 27 cubic yards of hazardous waste stored without a permit throughout the facility. 

Between January 2022 and November 2024, GOTEC did not properly dispose of all the hazardous waste it was generating, including hazardous waste that had been accumulating at the facility since 2022. GOTEC stated that it stopped properly disposing of hazardous waste due to staffing issues and decreased revenue during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, it stored hazardous waste at the facility without a RCRA permit.

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

• No. 5:20-CR-00377 (Eastern District of North Carolina)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors
• AUSA Evelyn Yarborough
• ECS Paralegal Jillian Grubb 

On April 24, 2026, the court found that Jesse James Freeman violated four conditions of his supervised release: (i) Freeman committed two new state offenses involving the improper labeling of antivenom and venomous reptiles, (ii) he repeatedly associated with another convicted felon, (iii) he violated specific terms of supervision requiring that he only possess documented wildlife, and (iv) he possessed ammunition, a bow, and a crossbow. The court sentenced Freeman to serve an additional 90 days’ home confinement. 

State authorities arrested Freeman on October 23, 2025, for illegally possessing venomous and protected wildlife in violation of conditions of his supervised release. A federal investigation into his conduct revealed that he was illegally importing wildlife, primarily snakes and other reptiles using a straw buyer, and was also associating with another convicted Lacey Act felon. Freeman sold the wildlife online and at trade shows while hiding the transactions from his probation officer. He also possessed a firearm when he was prohibited from doing so. All of these actions violated the conditions of supervised release imposed after he completed the prison term to which he was sentenced for a prior conviction. 

Freeman was sentenced in May 2022 to 18 months’ incarceration, followed by three years’ supervised release, after pleading guilty to violating the Lacey Act (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), (a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(1)(B)). His conviction was part of “Operation Common Denominator,” an investigation into the domestic and international turtle trade. Investigators determined that Freeman poached turtles from the wild and shipped more than 700 eastern box and spotted turtles worth more than $1.5 million to a co-conspirator in China. Freeman earned at least $113,000 in profits and coordinated with other illegal suppliers and shippers. As part of his sentence, Freeman was under orders not to own wild-caught wildlife or any wildlife that did not have proper documentation until his supervised release term ended.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted the investigation with assistance from the North Carolina Wildlife Resource Commission.

• No. 26-CR-60088 (Southern District of Florida)
• ECS Trial Attorney Emily Stone
• AUSA Elizabeth Hannah

On April 27, 2026, the Boise Cascade Company pleaded guilty and was sentenced for a felony violation of the Lacey Act based on its role in a timber trafficking scheme to evade anti-dumping duties (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(1)(B)). Boise Cascade was ordered to pay a $6,382,000 fine (representing twice the gross profits it derived from the illegal wood at issue), complete a five-year term of probation, and implement a compliance plan. Boise Cascade is the third federal criminal enforcement action to come out of this large-scale duty evasion scheme.

Boise Cascade is a publicly traded company with a distribution center in Pompano, Florida. Boise Cascade purchased wood from Horizon Plywood, a company whose principals, Noel and Kelsy Quintana, were sentenced in February 2024 for conspiracy and Lacey Act violations based on their illegal importation of hardwood plywood. Horizon employee Marta Angelbello was also sentenced after pleading guilty to making a false statement related to her role in the scheme.

Between 2018 and 2021, Boise Cascade’s Pompano location purchased more than $30 million worth of hardwood plywood from Horizon. Beginning in approximately 2019, Boise Cascade purchased, received, sold, and transported hardwood plywood from Horizon knowing that hardwood plywood was illegally imported from China. Boise Cascade knew that Horizon smuggled the wood using falsified import declarations. For example, Horizon transshipped products from China to Malaysia, where it moved product into new containers, and then from Malaysia to the United States. Boise Cascade knew or should have known the plywood purchased from Horizon was sourced from China.

Boise Cascade was also aware that the United States executed a search warrant at Horizon’s warehouse in South Florida in January 2021. Despite knowing Horizon was under federal investigation, Boise Cascade still placed and received at least 10 new orders for birch plywood in the two weeks following execution of the search warrant.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation, with support from Customs and Border Protection.

• No. 2:25-CR-00175 (Southern District of West Virginia)
• AUSA Erik Goes

On April 29, 2026, a court ordered Dennis West to pay $266,445 in restitution to the West Virginia Board of Risk and Insurance Management. West was previously sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a three-year term of probation after pleading guilty to violating the Clean Water Act (CWA) for negligent discharge of pollutants into United States waters (33 U.S.C. §§ 1311(a), 1319 (c)(1)(A)). 

On August 24, 2022, while driving under the influence of alcohol, West crashed his company’s tractor trailer on a highway. West was transporting twelve 275-gallon totes of an industrial cleaning product containing alkyl dimethylamine. As a result, the chemical, which is classified as a corrosive material and marine pollutant, spilled onto the road and then into Paint Creek, a tributary of the Kanawha River. Authorities estimate that 1,300 gallons of alkyl dimethylamine spilled into the water, killing close to 33,500 fish, and causing authorities to close a portion of the West Virginia Turnpike for more than 12 hours.

West admitted that he operated the tractor trailer while under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. Law enforcement determined that West’s blood alcohol content was more than 0.08 percent. West did not have a federal permit to discharge pollutants into Paint Creek or any other water in West Virginia.

West also pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor CWA violation on behalf of his now-defunct trucking business, Gadsden, Gaillard and West LLC, . The trucking firm’s insurance policy, which covered West, previously paid more than $900,000 toward environmental containment, site cleanup, personal injury expenses, property damage, and related costs.

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

• No. 3:26-CR-01324 (Southern District of California)
• AUSA Eric Olah

On April 30, 2026, a court sentenced Stephen P. Buoye to time served and payment of a $20,000 fine, plus $12,466 in restitution. Buoye pleaded guilty to conspiracy to unlawfully distribute an unregistered pesticide (18 U.S.C. § 371).

Buoye was the owner and operator of Steve Buoye Honey Company. Between March 18, 2019, and September 1, 2023, Buoye and co-defendants distributed unregistered pesticides smuggled into the United States from Mexico, specifically, Taktic and Bovitraz.

On at least five occasions, Buoye purchased Taktic and/or Bovitraz from Juan Mejorado, who was previously convicted and sentenced to time served, one year of supervised release, and ordered to pay $2,500 in restitution. Mejorado pleaded guilty to conspiracy (18 U.S.C. § 371).

Buoye, through his company, paid approximately $77,000 for these pesticides over the period of the conspiracy. 

On March 1, 2024, during a search of Steve Bouye Honey Company, agents seized 246 liters of unregistered pesticide, which belonged to Bouye and his business.

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