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FOURTEEN SENTENCED FOR FRAUDULENT TESTING IN PENNSYLVANIA
Release Date: 05/10/2001
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: THURSDAY, MAY 10, 2001
ENFORCEMENT WRAP-UP
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / hester.luke@epa.gov
FOURTEEN SENTENCED FOR FRAUDULENT TESTING IN PENNSYLVANIA
On May 2, 14 persons from six states—Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina and Texas—were sentenced on federal charges arising from the improper testing of gasoline underground storage tanks in Pennsylvania. Falsifying underground storage tank data can allow leaking tanks to remain undiscovered, and any leakage can contaminate surrounding soil and lead to groundwater contamination. Kevin Moriarty of Boca Raton, Fla. and Gary Ebel, formerly of Silver Springs, Texas each were sentenced to 33 months in prison and two years probation. Steven Becsey of Bradenton, Fla. was sentenced to 13 months in prison and two years probation. Katherine R. Wilson of Sherwood, Ark., Michael Doss of Rossville, Ga., Dana Smith of Maumelle, Ark., Lawrence Finnell of Sherwood, Ark., Joseph Moriarity of Ocean Isle, N.C., and Phillip Gordon of Beckville, Texas were sentenced to five months house arrest as part of two years probation. Bernard Butler of Indianapolis, Ind., and Diane Roth of Pflugerville, Tex. were sentenced to four months house arrest. Mark Smith of Little Rock, Ark., and Joseph Ricotta of Austin, Texas were sentenced to three months house arrest. Milton Barren of Kurten, Texas was fined $500. Testing of underground storage tanks is required by EPA regulations under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and by state law. During the 1990s, all of the defendants were involved with one or more of three underground storage tank testing companies, AST and ASTI in Little Rock, Ark., AUST in Austin, Tex. The companies claimed to use a method to test the tanks that should take about three hours to perform. However, various employees of the three companies either did not stay on site long enough to properly conduct the tests, or did not have the proper equipment to do the tests, or sent in falsified results by mail or by telefax. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the FBI and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service with assistance from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Pittsburgh.
R-072 ###
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