MIL Security Engine-1

• No. 6:25-CR-00012 (Easten District of Oklahoma)
• ECS Senior Litigation Counsel Todd Gleason
• ECS Trial Attorney Sarah Brown
• AUSA Jordan Howanitz
• ECS Paralegal Jillian Grubb
• ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer

On August 1, 2025, a jury convicted Leshon E. Johnson on three counts of possession of a dog for use in an animal fighting venture and three counts of sale of a dog for use in an animal fighting venture (7 U.S.C. § 2156(b), 18 U.S.C. §§ 49, 2)).

Johnson ran a dog fighting operation known as “Mal Kant Kennels” in both Broken Arrow and Haskell, Oklahoma. He possessed 190 pit bull-type dogs that were seized by Federal authorities in October 2024. This is believed to be the largest number of dogs ever seized from a single person in a federal dog fighting case. He previously ran “Krazyside Kennels,” also in Oklahoma, which led to his conviction on state animal fighting charges in 2004. Johnson selectively bred “champion” and “grand champion” fighting dogs — dogs that have respectively won three or five fights — to produce offspring with desirable fighting traits and abilities. Johnson marketed and sold stud rights and offspring from winning fighting dogs to other dog fighters looking to incorporate the Mal Kant Kennels “bloodline” into their own dog fighting operations.

Johnson’s trafficking of fighting dogs across the country contributed to the growth of the dog fighting industry and allowed Johnson to profit financially.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

Trial Exhibit depicting a mosaic of 190 pit bull-type dogs seized from the defendant. 

• No. 2:25-CR-00346 (Eastern District of Pennsylvania)
• AUSA Elizabeth Abrams

On August 26, 2025, prosecutors charged ViaClean Technologies, LLC (ViaClean) and its founder, James Young, with conspiring to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, mail fraud, and violations of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). Co-defendant Sean Storrie was also charged with FIFRA violations.

The Indictment alleges that ViaClean and Young conspired with others to sell registered pesticides using false claims about the products, knowingly misleading potential customers by claiming that the pesticide products (which were used to inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi, mold, and mildew) were effective at killing the SARS-CoV-2 virus. All three defendants are charged with misdemeanor FIFRA violations for selling the pesticide products by making claims that differed from the approved labels for the products.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service conducted the investigation.

• No. 5:25-CR-00385 (Southern District of Texas)
• AUSA Bryan L. Oliver

On August 1, 2025, Alejandro Hernandez pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 545). Sentencing is scheduled for November 3, 2025.

Hernandez operated an online store where he advertised selling custom boots made from any animal skin. In June 2024, he sold a pair of boots made from sea turtle leather to an undercover agent for $900. Hernandez knew it was illegal to make and sell products using sea turtle leather. He manufactured the boots in Guanajuato, Mexico, and the agent received them in Houston in October 2024.

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

• No. 3:25-CR-00138 (Middle District of Tennessee)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Matthew Morris
• AUSA Stephanie Toussaint

On August 5, 2025, Allwaste Onsite LLC d/b/a Onsite Environmental (Onsite) pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Water Act for bypassing treatment processes in violation of its pretreatment permit (33 U.S.C. §1319(c)(2)(A)).

Onsite is an environmental management company that provides services related to non-hazardous liquid waste hauling and treatment. The investigation revealed that Onsite bypassed treatment processes and discharged untreated waste products directly into the sewer system at its Nashville facility, in violation of the Nashville Metro Water Services (MWS) pretreatment permit program. Plant supervisors directed employees to send untreated waste directly to the sewer when the equipment was broken or the plant exceeded its capacity to properly process waste. Those same supervisory employees tried to cover up the illegal discharges by manipulating a sampling device that MWS installed at the facility to monitor the company’s discharges.

Onsite agreed to pay a $512,000 fine (which represents $16,000 per day of bypassing), and to complete a three-year term of probation. As a special term of probation, Onsite must comply with a previous state court Order entered in connection with an agreement with MWS to enact a facility operating plan. Also pursuant to the state court Order, Onsite paid the following: $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, as well as implementing several plant and equipment upgrades.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigation Division and EPA Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation.

• No. 2:24-CR-00180 (Southern District of Ohio)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman
• AUSA Nicole Pakiz
• AUSA Kevin Kelley

On August 7, 2025, Joel Brown pleaded guilty to possessing dogs for fighting purposes and possessing methamphetamine with intent to distribute (7 U.S.C. § 2156 (b); 21 U.S.C. §§ 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(B)).

Brown kept 11 pit bull-type dogs for fighting purposes in Franklin County, Ohio. Columbus Humane rescued the dogs and authorities also recovered tools and supplies commonly used in training dogs for fighting. Brown also possessed a shotgun and various types of ammunition, as well as approximately 50 grams of methamphetamine.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and Columbus Humane conducted the investigation.

• No. 1:25-CR-00100 (Western District of New York)
• ECS Trial Attorney Rachel Roberts
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors
• AUSA Aaron Mango
• ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer

On August 11, 2025, Wei Qiang Lin pleaded guilty to a felony Lacey Act violation for falsely labeling live turtles as fake toys prior to exporting them in delivery boxes on a weeks-long journey to Hong Kong (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(1), 3373(d)(3)(A)(i)). Lin is scheduled for sentencing on December 23, 2025.

Wei Qiang Lin smuggled approximately 214 packages from the United States to Hong Kong containing at least 849 turtles, seven venomous snakes, and 18 lizards worth more than $1.4 million.

Lin has been detained since his November 22, 2024, arrest by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Homeland Security Investigations agents.

Photos of intercepted eastern box turtles.

• No. 6:25-CR-10075 (District of Kansas)
• AUSA Matthew Treaster

On August 13, 2025, Michael Le, and his company, Millenia Productions, LLC (Millenia), pleaded guilty to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) (42 U.S.C. §§ 6928(d)(2)(A)). The company pleaded guilty to illegally storing hazardous waste and Le pleaded guilty to illegally disposing of hazardous waste. Sentencing is scheduled for October 30, 2025.

Millenia is a cosmetics manufacturing company that produces and distributes products, such as nail polish, in Wichita, Kansas. Neither Le or Millenia possessed a RCRA permit to treat, store, or dispose of hazardous waste. In July 2023, Le directed company employees to transport more than 600 containers of waste paint and solvents to a property he owns with his wife. Over a four-day period, an employee burned the chemicals in an open-air pit. Many containers also leaked chemicals into the ground, and burning the chemicals caused emissions into the air.

On the morning of July 13, 2023, two local fire departments responded to reports of a fire at Le’s property, documenting the active burn pit and an injury to Le’s employee, who suffered burns when a container exploded over him. EPA responders documented elevated levels of volatile organic compounds detected near the burn pit via real-time air monitoring.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Kansas State Fire Marshall, and the Kansas Department of Health and the Environment conducted the investigation.

• No. 3:25-CR-00030 (District of Alaska)
• AUSA Ainsley McNerney
• RCEC Karla Perrin

On August 19, 2025, Jason Christenson pleaded guilty to tampering with a Clean Air Act (CAA) monitoring device and CAA false statements (42 U.S.C. §§ 7413(c)(2)(C), (c)(2)(A)). Sentencing is scheduled for December 2, 2025.

Between October 2019 and March 2024, Christenson tampered with monitoring methods required to be maintained under the CAA by altering the emissions control equipment on approximately 170 diesel trucks. Christenson and his business, Elite Diesel Performance, also modified the onboard diagnostic systems of the vehicles to prevent them from detecting the fact that this equipment had been removed.

On May 1, 2021, Christenson made false statements in a response to a Request for Information sent by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). When asked whether he or his business had manufactured, sold, or installed any defeat devices, Christenson responded ‘no.’ In truth, he had installed more than 100 defeat devices on diesel trucks between January 2019 and January 2021.

EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

• No. 4:24-CR-00061 (District of Idaho)
• AUSA Justin Paskett

On August 27, 2025, Michael T. Scott pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act for conducting illegal big game hunts (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1), 3373(d)(2)). Co-defendant Jerrod R. Farr also pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act and is scheduled for sentencing on September 15, 2025.

Farr owned and operated White Cloud Outfitters (WCO), a commercial outfitting and guiding business. Farr sold and facilitated Rocky Mountain Big Horn Sheep hunts in an area of the Salmon-Challis National Forest that is closed to commercial guiding. Working as a licensed guide for WCO, Scott illegally guided two of those hunts.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game conducted the investigation.

• No. 4:25-CR-40034 (Southern District of Illinois)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Matthew Morris
• AUSA Kevin Burke
• ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris
• Department of Labor Counsel Suzanne Dunne

On August 28, 2025, Timothy Brandon Parsons pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the United States Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) (18 U.S.C. § 371). Sentencing is scheduled for December 18, 2025.

Parsons was the Mine Manager for M-Class Mining, LLC, which operated the MC#1 coal mine near Thompsonville, Illinois. The charge stems from Parsons’ efforts to hide the existence of an underground fire that began during the first shift on August 13, 2021. Despite the fire continuing to burn through three shifts, company employees and managers falsified examination records, stating that there were no ongoing hazards in the mine.

Rather than implementing the approved firefighting plan and evacuating the mine, the managers engaged in ad hoc firefighting efforts to extinguish the fire before it was discovered by MSHA authorities. Some managers went underground with the fire still burning without required tracking devices that would have recorded where they were underground.

As the fire continued to burn on the morning of August 14, 2021, Parsons directed others to instruct the miners to evacuate due to an equipment malfunction (which was false), allowing him and others to try to extinguish the fire. A few hours later, someone made an anonymous call to MSHA to report the fire. Upon being questioned by the responding MSHA inspector, managers lied, saying they had extinguished the fire ten minutes after they were told it had started. While the fire continued to burn days after MSHA ordered the evacuation of the mine, mine managers returned underground two times to try to spray water on the fire. They also manipulated air sampling to deceive MSHA into concluding that the fire was out. Ultimately, efforts to fully extinguish the fire were unsuccessful. Workers sealed off the area where the fire continued to burn from the rest of the mine so that mining operations could resume.

The Department of Labor Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

• No. 2:25-CR-00120 (Eastern District of Wisconsin)
• AUSA Julie F. Stewart

On August 29, 2025, Ashley George and Brew City Environmental & Restoration Services (Brew City), LLC, pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act (CAA) (42 U.S.C. §§ 7413(c)(4), (c)(2)(A)). Sentencing is scheduled for March 3, 2026.

George owned Brew City, which operated as an asbestos abatement, demolition and waste transportation business. George was licensed by the State of Wisconsin as an asbestos abatement supervisor and inspector.

Between February 2020 and February 2021, George negligently caused the release of asbestos into the ambient air placing others in imminent danger of death and serious bodily injury. Specifically, she disposed of regulated asbestos containing material (RACM) more than 30 days after conducting abatement work. Also, 10 bags of RACM were found on her property during the execution of a search warrant, with one of them torn open releasing a hazardous air pollutant.

In October 2020, Brew City made a CAA false statement by filing a manifest indicating that three yards of RACM was disposed of at a proper landfill site, when in fact it was disposed at a regular landfill.

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

• No. 24-CR-00117 (District of Colorado)
• AUSA Kurt Bohn

On July 31, 2025, a court sentenced a hunter for operating an illegal outfitting and guiding operation. Timothy L. Rawlings was sentenced to twelve months and one day of incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. Rawlings also will pay $45,800 in restitution to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (U.S. FWS). Co-defendant Howard W. Rodarmel was previously sentenced to pay a $2,000 fine, complete a three-year term of probation, and pay $9,164 in restitution to U.S. FWS.

Rawlings owned and operated Old West Guides and Outfitters (OWGO), based out of Laveen, Arizona. OWGO provided outfitting, hunting, and guiding services to clients for various big game animals, including deer, elk, mountain lions, and bears. Rawlings’ company was not licensed to provide these services in the state of Colorado.

Rodarmel, a resident of Colorado, owns property in Baca County, but is not a licensed guide. Rawlings paid Rodarmel to provide unlicensed outfitting and guiding services to clients in Baca County, Colorado. Rawlings knowingly violated several hunting regulations, including shooting from vehicles; chasing animals with vehicles; and hunting in unlicensed and/or unpermitted lands. He also failed to register the animals taken as required by Colorado regulations. During the investigation, Rawlings unwittingly guided undercover agents on an illegal hunt.

Rawlings pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to violating the Lacey Act. Rodarmel pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. § 371; 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A), (c)(1)(A), 3373 (d)(1)(B), (d)(2)).

The U.S. FWS Office of Law Enforcement and Colorado Parks and Wildlife conducted the investigation.

• Nos. 3:24-CR-00824, 3:25-CR-00001 (District of New Jersey)
• ECS Trial Attorney Christopher Hale
• AUSA Kelly Lyons

On August 4, 2025, a court sentenced Darren McClave to pay a $10,000 fine and complete a two-year term of probation to include six months’ home detention. Additional special conditions of probation include the following: McClave is prohibited from holding a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Operator Permit or commercial fishing permit and filling out any Fishing Vessel Trip Reports (FVTRs). He is also prohibited from holding an ownership interest in any vessel with a commercial fishing permit.

McClave, a captain of a clam vessel based out of New Jersey, participated in a scheme to illegally harvest and sell excess scallops, violating federal fishing regulations. While clam vessels are allowed to take a limited quantity of scallops as bycatch, McClave routinely exceeded these limits and sold the surplus to co-defendant Antonio Pereira, a seafood dealer. To cover up the overfishing, McClave and Pereira worked together to falsify FVTRs and Dealer Reports required by NOAA.

McClave and Pereira pleaded guilty to conspiracy to obstruct justice (18 U.S.C. §§ 371; 1519). Pereira was sentenced to pay a $4,000 fine and to complete a two-year term of probation.

The NOAA Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

• Nos. 4:24-CR-00240, 4:23-CR-00168 (District of Idaho)
• RCEC Karla G. Perrin

On August 6, 2025, a court sentenced Jeremy Pierce and his company, Pierce Diesel Performance, to jointly pay a $375,000 fine and complete three-year terms of probation. Pierce pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Air Act (CAA) for tampering with a monitoring device (42 U.S.C. § 7413(c)(2)(C)). Pierce Diesel Performance pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the CAA for providing technical support to customers nationwide who purchased tuning devices and tunes from his brother Barry Pierce’s company, Gorilla Diesel Performance (GDP) (18 U.S.C. § 371).

Barry Pierce and his companies, GDP Tuning and Gorilla Performance, were sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiracy and violating the CAA (18 U.S.C. § 371; 42 U.S.C. § 7413). Pierce served four months’ incarceration, with one year of supervised release. GDP Tuning and Gorilla Performance are completing five-year terms of probation. All defendants were ordered to jointly pay a $1 million fine.

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

• No. 5:25-CR-00124 (Southern District of Texas)
• AUSA Bryan Oliver

On August 6, 2025, a court sentenced Juan Ignacio Martinez to complete a three-year term of probation, including 15 days’ time served. Martinez pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle goods into the United States (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 545).

On May 17, 2024, Martinez entered the United States at the Laredo, Texas, port of entry. Agents discovered five 30-pound canisters of R-22 refrigerant concealed in a toolbox attached to the bed of his truck. The R-22 was valued at between $4,896 to $5,916.

Custom and Border Protection records revealed that Martinez attempted to cross into the United States on at least five other occasions, between July 2022 and December 2023. Agents denied him entry, informing him that it was illegal to possess refrigerants that were unlawful to bring into the United States. Each time, Martinez was allowed to return to Mexico with the refrigerant.

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

• Nos. 3:20-CR-00109, 3:22-CR-00036 (Southern District of Mississippi)
• AUSA Gaines Cleveland

On August 12, 2025, a court sentenced Andrew Walker to complete a two-year term of probation and pay restitution in the amount of $225,927 to the City of Jackson, Mississippi’s publicly owned treatment works.

In May 2025, a court sentenced co-defendant Thomas W. Douglas, Jr., to pay a $50,000 fine and complete a three-year term of probation, which includes nine months’ home confinement. Co-defendant John S. Welch, Sr., was sentenced to pay a $5,000 fine and complete a two-year term of probation. Following an almost two-week trial, a jury found Douglas guilty of two negligent Clean Water Act (CWA) counts and Welch guilty of one negligent CWA count (33 U.S.C. § 1319(c)(1)(A)).

Douglas was the president and co-owner of Gold Coast Commodities, Inc. (GCC), based in Brandon, Mississippi, and Welch was GCC’s plant manager. The company processes fats, oils, and grease into feedstock for animal food and biofuels. GCC applied for and received pretreatment permits that limited the quantity of treated waste it could discharge to the Jackson area wastewater treatment system (JWTS). GCC never activated the permits, claiming that it trucked all its waste offsite for treatment and disposal. State and local regulatory officials later discovered discharges of industrial waste downstream from GCC that vastly exceeded numerous pollutant limits.

After officials placed monitors into GCC’s sewer outfall, the defendants trucked GCC’s process waste to three other illegal discharge locations, two of which led to JWTS. They hired two sewage haulers to transport GCC’s industrial waste to JWTS’s treatment plant in tanker trucks falsely marked as “sewage” to conceal the nature of the waste. The plant does not accept industrial waste. When delivering the waste to JWTS became too risky, they hired a trucking company to transport GCC’s waste to a small sewer service company owned by co-defendant Walker. There they excavated a JWTS sewer pipe and discharged another 3.4 million gallons of GCC’s industrial waste until they were again caught and ordered to stop.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Brandon Police Department, and the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality conducted the investigation, with assistance from the Cities of Brandon and Jackson municipal governments.

• No. 3:22-CR-01965 (Southern District of California)
• ECS Assistant Chief Stephen Da Ponte
• AUSA Sean Van Demark

On August 13, 2025, a court sentenced Otilio Rodriguez Toledo to serve five months’ incarceration followed by 24 months’ supervised release. Co-defendant Alicia Aispuro Hernandez was sentenced to time served followed by 18 months of supervised release. Both were ordered to jointly forfeit $2.19 million after pleading guilty for their role in illegally importing pesticides and veterinary drugs from Mexico into the United States (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 545; 7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(1)(A),136l(b)(2); 21 U.S.C. §§ 331(a), 333(a)).

The defendants conspired with others in Mexico and the U.S. to smuggle Mexican pesticides and veterinary drugs from Mexico into the U.S. and sell them to customers in this country. The defendants contacted co-conspirators in Mexico, asking them to smuggle the pesticides Taktic and Bovitraz, and the veterinary drugs Tetragent Aves, Metabolase, Terramicina, Cipio Vet, Baytril Max, Tylovet, Caterrol, Penicilina, and Tylosma. All these products were labeled solely in Spanish, and the pesticide labels did not bear an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) registration number.

The EPA previously cancelled the registrations for Taktic and Bovitraz, which contain the active ingredient amitraz. Amitraz is toxic to bees if released into hives, and then ultimately to humans when it ends up in honey, honeycomb, and beeswax. Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration did not approve the application, sale, or use of the veterinary drugs smuggled by Toledo and Hernandez.

Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations, and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control conducted the investigation.

• No. 3:25-mj-00243 (Northern District of Florida)
• AUSA David Goldberg
• AUSA Justin Keen

On August 14, 2025, ServisMed, LLC, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute unregistered pesticides, in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) (18 U.S.C. § 371; 7 U.S.C. §§ 136j(a)(l)(A),136l(b)(l)(B)). The court sentenced the company to pay a $40,000 fine, forfeit three shipping containers, destroy the disinfectants inside the containers, and pay $13,330 in restitution to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office.

ServisMed was a distribution company licensed to market and sell products through a licensing agreement with Company A, which produced disinfectant pesticide products. ServisMed sold disinfectant pesticide products (domestically and abroad) that were produced by Company A but not registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as required by FIFRA. Between March and December 2020, ServisMed conspired to distribute and sell unregistered disinfectants on three occasions

On November 3, 2020, ServisMed attempted to send a shipment containing 5,250 kilograms of disinfectants, valued at $85,680, to Amman, Jordan, via Turkish Airlines. The shipment did not meet export control labeling requirements and was not a properly registered pesticide. On December 15, 2020, ServisMed attempted to export another shipment of surface sanitizer valued at more than $160,000, to Amman, Jordan. Again, it did not meet proper labelling requirements. On December 24, 2020, ServisMed attempted to export 175 kilograms of surface sanitizer, valued at $5,632, to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, but it failed to meet proper labelling requirements.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Commerce Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

•  No. 5:24-CR-00209 (Central District of California)
• AUSA Corey Burleson
• AUSA Dennis Mitchell

On August 18, 2025, a court sentenced Isidro Chaparro Sanchez to one month of incarceration, three years of supervised release, and seven months of home detention. Sanchez will also pay a $4,000 fine. Sanchez pleaded guilty to conspiring to sponsor roosters for fighting (18 U.S.C. § 371).

Between May 2023 and July 2024, Cirilo Esquivel Alcantar, Luis Octavio Angulo, Sergio Jimenez Maldonado, Eva Anilu Pastor Uriostegui, and Sanchez organized and facilitated cockfighting events in Muscoy, California. The defendants held events on Sundays during the cockfighting “season.” Individuals brought roosters to fight, often drawing more than 100 spectators to each event.

Attendees paid $20 to park at a different location nearly one mile away from the event location. They were then shuttled to the cockfighting location, where they paid another fee – usually $40 – to enter the arena where the fights took place. Attendees could also place bets on the fights and participate in a raffle.

Cockfighters paid a fee to enter their roosters into fights ($1,000 for four roosters) with several fights scheduled for the day. Before the fights, a sharp blade, known as a “gaff,” was often attached to each rooster’s leg. At times, the fights ended in the death of one or both roosters.

Angulo, Uriostegui, and Maldanado pleaded guilty to conspiracy. Alcantar pleaded guilty to operating cockfighting events in San Bernardino County and sponsoring and exhibiting roosters in an animal fighting venture (7 U.S.C. § 2156(a)(1)). Uriostegui is scheduled for sentencing on September 29, 2025; Alcantar and Maldanado are set for October 6, 2025; and Angulo is scheduled for October 27, 2025.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

• No. 1:20-CR-01568 (District of New Mexico)
• AUSA Sean Sullivan

On August 21, 2025, a court sentenced Daniel Winard to 24 months’ incarceration followed by three years of supervised release. Winard violated the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) knowing endangerment provision by disposing of hazardous waste without a permit (42 U.S.C. § 6928(e)). Winard will also pay $9,527 in restitution to the City of Albuquerque.

Winard inherited property in New Mexico from a retired chemist for an energy company. When he took control of the property, he found a large assortment of hazardous waste had been left behind, including laboratory grade chemicals.

Winard contacted local government officials about the process for properly disposing of the chemicals and learned it was expensive. Winard later arranged to dispose of the chemicals unlawfully at nine locations throughout the Albuquerque area. The abandoned chemicals included cyanide, yellow phosphorus, calcium carbide, and thionyl chloride.

Winard knew the chemicals posed an imminent threat of death or serious bodily injury to passersby, first responders, and others. He was aware that some of the chemicals reacted violently to water, could release poisonous gas, and were harmful to the environment. When interviewed by authorities, Winard remarked that “some dumbass fireman” might find the chemicals and “get the surprise of his life.”

The City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County coordinated an extensive clean-up effort with a private contractor after discovering the chemicals. The total clean-up cost paid by the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County was $198,654. The EPA later took custody of the waste.

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

Photo of abandoned chemicals included in the press release.

•  No. 2:23-CR-00166 (District of Wyoming)
• AUSA Kerry Jacobson
• SAUSA Richard Baird

On August 25, 2025, a court sentenced Mark Orchard and Darwin Crawford to each complete a one-year term of probation and pay $28,330 (for a total of $56,660) in restitution to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Both pleaded guilty to Depredation of Government Property (18 U.S.C. § 1361).

Contractors Crawford and Orchard worked as managers who oversaw field operations for an energy company. A Wyoming State BLM Chief Ranger received information that contractors were dumping waste on well pads leased from BLM. Well pads are areas approved by BLM for the drilling of gas or oil wells under approved plans and conditions. The waste had been generated from oil-water separators and maintenance operations performed on produced water storage tanks.

The defendants instructed other crew members to “dig a hole and dump stuff from the junk tank” into the pit, and to backfill the hole. The area affected is known as the East Echo Springs Saltwater disposal facility (Echo Springs), located in Carbon County, Wyoming. Echo Springs was only permitted for the disposal of produced water, a byproduct of oil and gas extraction, through injection deep into the ground. The site was not permitted for burying solid oil waste. Approximately 10 barrels of this waste oil material was buried at the direction of the defendants.

Soil samples of this buried material showed levels of total petroleum hydrocarbons at 15,200 ppm, 16,100 ppm, and 11,000 ppm. In comparison, testing of an uncontaminated soil sample at the site measured a total petroleum hydrocarbon level of 18 ppm.

Orchard and Crawford admitted they signed off on daily work tickets and invoices for this and other work they directed.

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

• No. 1:25-CR-00039 (Eastern District of Texas and Eastern District of Louisiana)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Ken Nelson
• ECS Trial Attorney Lauren Steele
• AUSA Joe Batte
• AUSA Edward Warner
• ECS Paralegal John Jones

On August 27, 2025, V. Ships Norway, A.S. pleaded guilty to violating the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (33 U.S.C § 1908(a)). The company was sentenced to pay a $2 million fine, complete a four-year term of probation, and implement an Environmental Compliance Plan.

V. Ships Norway operated the M/T Swift Winchester. On several occasions, crew members transferred oily waste from the vessel’s incinerator waste oil tank into the sewage tank. That oily waste was then discharged directly into the ocean without using the required pollution prevention equipment.

The vessel’s Chief Engineer also ordered the crew to clean the Oil Water Separator filters on the ship’s deck. The crew hosed off the filters, allowing the oil and debris to run over the side of the ship into the ocean. The vessel then entered the ports of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and Port Arthur, Texas, with a knowingly falsified Oil Record Book.

The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service and Coast Guard Marine Safety Unit Port Arthur conducted the investigation.

• No. 3:25-CR-02276 (Southern District of California)
• AUSA Emily Allen

On August 28, 2025, a court sentenced Dumitru Cicai to serve a one-year term of probation and complete 100 hours of community service. Cicai will forfeit pesticides and pay $1,200 in restitution for their disposal costs. Cicai pleaded guilty to failing to present merchandise for inspection (19 U.S.C. § 1433(b)(2)(B)).

On March 31, 2025, Cicai was caught smuggling 24 one-liter bottles of Taktic pesticide into the United States. As he drove into the United States at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, Cicai told the Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) primary inspection officer that he had nothing to declare. Upon inspecting the vehicle, the primary officer discovered multiple pieces of natural wood branches in the vehicle’s trunk and large bottles concealed in black bags.

When questioned by the secondary CBP officer, Cicai said he only had wood to declare, nothing else. Upon closer inspection, officers found 24 bottles of pesticide labeled “Taktic.”

Taktic contains the active ingredient amitraz at an emulsifiable concentration of 12.5 percent. Under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations, amitraz in this form is a cancelled and unregistered pesticide in the United States.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.