USDOJ Press Release: FORMER USDA OFFICIAL AND OWNER OF PEST CONTROL COMPANY SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR PERMITTING PESTS TO ENTER COUNTRY

U.S. Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Southern District of Texas
Tim Johnson Acting United States Attorney

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MONDAY, NOV. 24, 2008
ANGELA DODGE
PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICER
(713) 567-9388


FORMER USDA OFFICIAL AND OWNER OF PEST CONTROL COMPANY SENTENCED TO PRISON FOR PERMITTING PESTS TO ENTER COUNTRY


(LAREDO) – Jose Homero Reyes, a former USDA plant protection and quarantine officer (PPQ), and Arturo Ramirez, owner of Ambush Exterminators, were each sentenced to prison terms for permitting trucks carrying agricultural products into the United States without proper fumigation, acting United States Attorney Tim Johnson announced today.

U. S. District Court Judge Micaela Alvarez sentenced Reyes, 48, of Laredo, to 12 months in federal prison, and Ramirez, 46, of Laredo, to five months in prison to be followed by five months of home confinement at a hearing held this morning. Reyes and Ramirez each pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiring to permit infested agricultural products to enter the United States from Mexico, and to the substantive counts of permitting infested agricultural products to enter the United States from Mexico. In addition to the prison terms, Judge Alvarez ordered both men to pay restitution to the USDA and the owners of the agricultural products. Reyes is to pay $19,770. Ramirez is to pay $39,541. Following their release from prison, the court has further ordered each defendant to serve a three year term of supervised release. Reyes and Ramirez have been permitted to remain on bond pending and order to surrender to a Bureau of Prisons facility to be designated in the near future.

This was the first prosecution in the United States under the Plant Protection Act (7 U.S.C. Sections 7734 and 7711). Reyes and Ramirez were originally charged with Rafael Melo and Robert Perez, both of whom were also PPQs. Melo committed suicide after he was charged. Perez pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge, and was sentenced October 1, 2008, to 6-months home confinement.

The investigation leading to the charges was a joint investigation by the FBI’s Public Corruption Task Force and the USDA - Office of Inspector General. The Task Force includes the Laredo Police Department, Department of Homeland Security - Office of the Inspector General and CBP - Office of Internal Affairs. Special agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement also assisted in the operation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Sam Sheldon and James Seaman.

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