Newsroom
All News Releases By Date
FORMER FLORIDA RESIDENT TO SPEND 57 MONTHS IN PRISON
Release Date: 05/20/99
Contact Information:
THURSDAY, MAY 20, 1999
FORMER FLORIDA RESIDENT TO SPEND 57 MONTHS IN PRISON
On May 14, Lawrence Randolph Hilton, formerly of Bradenton, Fla., was on sentenced to 57 months in prison by the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa for violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). The court also ordered him to pay EPA $129,402 for clean-up costs, to reimburse the Florida Department of Environmental Corrections $9,222, and to serve 36 months of supervised release after he completes his prison term. In addition, the court ordered Hilton to serve 36 months in prison and serve 12 months on supervised release for violating the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA). Both the CERCLA and RCRA sentences will be served concurrently. Hilton buried drums of waste that he knew was potentially hazardous on property he had rented
outside of Bradenton, and failed to report a release of hazardous waste to the National Response Center. The drums originally had been abandoned in a warehouse leased in Tampa by Reliance Chemicals. In 1994, Hilton was evicted from the property where he buried the drums, and the illegal disposal was reported to the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Analysis of the drums indicated that several contained ignitable liquid and one contained high levels of lead, which is toxic to the nervous system. Hilton fled from prosecution for about two years and was apprehended after a search by EPA and the FBI. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Manatee County Sheriff’s Department with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center, and was prosecuted by the U.S. Department of Justice.
R-53 ###
Search this collection of releases | or search all news releases
View selected historical press releases from 1970 to 1998 in the EPA History website.
