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Former Label Company Vice Presidnet Indicted on Clean Air Act Charges
Release Date: 01/22/2003
Contact Information:
Teresa Libera 202-564-7873 / libera.teresa@epa.gov
(01/22/03) John Littlehale of Terrance Park, Ohio, former Vice President for Manufacturing at Multi-Color Corp., was indicted on Jan. 15 for alleged conspiracy to violate the Clean Air Act (CAA). He was also indicted for allegedly making a false statement in violation of the CAA. The indictments came out of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana in Indianapolis. The charges claim Littlehale arranged, from 1996 until January 1998, for the construction and operation of a new press at the Indiana-based Scottsburg Label Division (SLD) of Multi-Color. During that time, he conspired to make and made false statements to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The statements tried to conceal that the press was operating without proper permits and without installing the proper pollution control equipment. In December 2002, Roger Taylor, a former employee of the SLD was charged with misprision of a felony for allegedly concealing Littlehale’s false statements. Failing to operate machinery with proper pollution control devices can expose the public to an increased risk of respiratory diseases. If convicted on all charges, Littlehale faces a maximum penalty of up to seven years in prison and/or a fine of up to $500,000. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division Chicago Area Office and the Indiana Environmental Crimes Task Force for the Southern District of Indiana. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Indianapolis and the Environmental Crimes Section of the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. An indictment is merely an allegation and all defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty in a court of law.
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