Three men accused of allowing agricultural products infested with a plant pest to enter the U.S. from Mexico appeared in federal court Thursday.In an indictment unsealed Thursday, federal prosecutors allege that Rafael Edmundo Melo Jr., 40, Arturo Ramirez, 46, and Jose Homero Reyes, 48, all of Laredo, conspired to allow improperly fumigated floral greenery and broccoli to enter the U.S., allowing for the possible spread of plant pests.
Melo and Reyes, both U.S. Department of Agriculture employees charged with overseeing agricultural product fumigation, falsely claimed overtime hours for fumigation they never conducted.
Ramirez, the owner of Ambush Exterminators, accepted payment from freight forwarding companies for fumigation that never happened, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Sheldon said in court Thursday.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers inspect agricultural products entering the country, and if their inspections find the possible presence of a pest, the products are turned over to the USDA, said Rick Pauza, a CBP spokesman.
USDA inspectors then determine if there is a pest and whether the agricultural products need to be fumigated, destroyed or sent back to Mexico, Pauza said.
CBP regularly encounters pests, generally in wooden packing material, he said. Pauza said he could not give specific numbers because of the pending litigation.
Products that require fumigation are sent to companies such as Ramirez’s Ambush, according to the federal indictment.
A fumigation technician for Ambush working under the direction of the USDA quarantine officer was given the task of overseeing the fumigation, the indictment states.
The quarantine officer’s oversight was necessary because he or she would determine the amount of methyl bromide gas needed to eliminate the plant pests, according to the indictment.
Because the fumigation generally occurs after hours, the quarantine officers were paid overtime for their work, according to the indictment.
The freight forwarding company processing the products not only paid for Ambush’s service, but also reimbursed the USDA for the overtime pay, the indictment states. The freight forwarding company, in turn, sought reimbursement from the Mexican exporter of the goods.
But Melo and Reyes, beginning in 2005, would allow some products to leave Laredo without being properly fumigated, then would submit false reports to the USDA seeking payment for overtime work they did not perform, Sheldon said in court Thursday.
The indictment alleges specific instances of 2008 shipments of broccoli and floral arrangements infested with a plant pest not being properly fumigated. But Sheldon said in court Thursday that the conspiracy goes back years and involves other consumables, including cabbage.
“People across the country ate those plant products infested with plant pests because of the crimes these defendants committed,” he said.
The purpose of USDA regulations regarding produce entering the country is to protect U.S. agriculture, said Melissa O’Dell, spokeswoman for the department’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Organisms from outside the U.S. that take hold here can cause massive damage to crops, O’Dell said.
“These allegations pertain to threats against our public health and safety,” U.S. Attorney Don DeGabrielle said in a statement about the federal indictment. “Accordingly, they are taken very seriously.”
The 29-count indictment charges Melo and Reyes, who were arrested Wednesday while working at the USDA, with multiple counts of submitting a written report falsely documenting fumigation results and making a false overtime claim.
They and Ramirez, who was arrested Wednesday at Ambush’s business office, face charges of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the U.S. by making false overtime claims, conspiracy to permit agricultural products infested with a plant pest to enter the U.S. and permitting agricultural products infested with a plant pest to enter the U.S.
If convicted on the mail fraud charge, they face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The false overtime claim has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The remaining charges all have a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force working with the USDA, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
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