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ILLEGAL FLORIDA IMPORTER, TWO MEN SENTENCED IN FLORIDA
Release Date: 03/29/2002
Contact Information:
FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2002
ILLEGAL FLORIDA IMPORTER, TWO MEN SENTENCED IN FLORIDA
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / [email protected]
Luke C. Hester 202-564-7818 / [email protected]
Miami-based Individual Automobile Imports Inc. (IAI) and south Florida residents Kai Stadler and Thomas Kahnt were sentenced for their participation in a scheme to illegally import approximately 45 foreign vehicles that did not meet the U.S.Clean Air Act (CAA) and Department of Transportation standards. Kahnt was sentenced on March 7. He will spend four months in prison followed by four months in home detention and will pay $165,000 in restitution. Stadler was sentenced on March 8. He will spend one year and one day in prison and will pay $375,000 in restitution. IAI was sentenced on March 12. The company will pay $135,000 in fines and restitution. Federal law allows non-standard vehicles to be brought into the United States for up to one year, if they are used only for personal use by visiting foreign nationals. The vehicles must then be shipped out of the country when the one year grace period has expired. The defendants claimed that the imported vehicles were for temporary personal use, but then conspired with others and obtained American titles for the vehicles which were subsequently sold to buyers in the United States. Selling vehicles that do not meet CAA standards makes it difficult for localities to control air pollution which can cause a variety of respiratory diseases. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division, the U.S. Customs Service, the U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector General’s Office and the Miami-Dade Police Department Environmental Investigation Unit. It was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Miami.
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