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PA FREON SMUGGLER PLEADS GUILTY

Release Date: 07/19/96
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PA FREON SMUGGLER PLEADS GUILTY

FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1996

EXTRADITED FREON SMUGGLER PLEADS GUILTY TO CONSPIRACY AND VIOLATION OF THE CLEAN AIR ACT

On July 12, Bruce R. Burrell pleaded guilty in Miami, Fla., to conspiring to import over 19,000 30-pound cylinders of CFC-12, a refrigerant gas commonly known as freon. Burrell also pleaded guilty to violating the Clean Air Act prohibition against importing freon without first obtaining consumption allowances from the EPA and to evading federal excise taxes on the imported gas. Beginning in April 1993, Burrell, Casey Raja and other co-conspirators illegally imported freon into the United States through various ports and sold it domestically as if it had been legally imported and as if excise taxes had been paid. The sales were made through corporations established under fictitious identities or the identities of people not involved in the conspiracy. Proceeds of the sales were laundered through bank accounts in South Florida established under fictitious names or the names of nominee corporations and were also transferred to offshore accounts as part of the laundering process. Defendants in this case attempted to obstruct justice by trying to persuade witnesses to lie to investigators, commit perjury before the grand jury and alter or destroy subpoenaed documents. Burrell was extradited from Costa Rica on June 12, where he had been imprisoned since December 1995, after being arrested by the Costa Rican government subsequent to his indictment in the United States. Burrell faces a maximum of 15 years of imprisonment and up to $3.8 million in fines. Raja was sentenced to one year in prison and $100,000 in fines on April 22. Both men are liable for the unpaid taxes, penalties, and interest to the Internal Revenue Service. The case was investigated by EPA's Criminal Investigation Division, the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and the U.S. Customs Service.

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