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NEW HAMPSHIRE MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN RECYCLING FRAUD
Release Date: 02/01/2002
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 2002
NEW HAMPSHIRE MAN PLEADS GUILTY IN RECYCLING FRAUD
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / hester.luke@epa.gov
Franklin D. Sales, formerly of Milford, N.H., pleaded guilty to mail fraud, wire fraud and making false statements to a federal agency in connection with a false recycling scheme. The defendant owned and operated Consolidated Recycling Inc. (CRI), a firm which purported to be in the business of recycling fluorescent bulb and lighting ballast waste. The defendant accepted light bulb and light ballast wastes that included mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from school districts and government agencies in Colorado, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and elsewhere. The defendant falsely claimed that CRI had the equipment to recycle the wastes. However, CRI never purchased equipment to recycle the wastes collected, stored and abandoned at locations in Hollis and Merrimack, N.H., and Fitchburg, Methuen and Tyngsboro, Mass. Mercury is a highly toxic substance that can cause severe neurological damage and PCBs have been identified as a cause of cancer. The plea agreement calls for the defendant to serve 18 months in prison and pay restitution to victims of his offenses. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with the assistance of EPA’s regional office in Boston and National Enforcement Investigations Center, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. It is being prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Concord.
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