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Seattle Proprietor, Fugitive in Mexico, Pleads Guilty
Release Date: 6/28/2002
Contact Information: Luke Hester
hester.luke@epamail.epa.gov
(202) 564-7818
June 28, 2002
HQ-R-128
Sherman Smith, owner of Seawall Construction, a Seattle area marine construction company, pleaded guilty to failure to appear for a judicial proceeding on June 14. Smith was surrendered to the U.S. Marshall's Service in Tucson, Ariz., on April 1 by the Mexican government.
Smith had forfeited $20,000 bail when he failed to appear for trial in federal court in Washington state in May 1996 and had been living in Mexico. Smith had been previously charged with violating the Clean Water Act, but those charges have been dropped in return for his guilty plea for failure to appear. The charges arose from an oil spill that occurred when the Tug Omar sank in Puget Sound. Witnesses alleged that Smith had not properly maintained the tug and knew it was taking on water. Previously, in 1989, Smith had been convicted of pumping oily bilge water into Puget Sound.
The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division and the Washington State Environmental Crimes Task Force. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle.
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