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PA ILLINOIS MAN CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL PESTICIDE SALES
Release Date: 12/05/97
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 5, 1997
ILLINOIS MAN CHARGED WITH ILLEGAL PESTICIDE SALES
On Nov. 19, James Allen of Chicago, Ill. was charged in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi in Jackson with the illegal purchase and transport of pesticides in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act. Allen allegedly conspired with other individuals between 1993 and early 1997 to purchase the pesticide methyl parathion for the purpose of illegally applying it in residences. Methyl parathion is a highly toxic pesticide which is approved for use only in open uninhabited fields. Exposure to it can cause death, coma, nausea, headaches, vomiting, cramps and muscle spasms in humans and domestic animals. The charges state that Allen obtained 485 gallons of the pesticide illegally and transported it to Reuben Brown, an exterminator in Chicago, who sprayed it in approximately 1,000 homes. Allen is also accused of spraying a Braxton, Miss. residence with methyl parathion. If convicted, Allen faces a maximum sentence of two years in prison, a fine of up to $200,000 or both. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center.
R-169 ###
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