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Thomas L Sansonetti News

22 Jan 2004

GUILTY: OMI to Pay $4.2M Fine for Illegal Dumping

The U.S. Department of Justice announced that OMI Corporation pleaded guilty to preparing false documents in an effort to cover up the illegal dumping of thousands of gallons of waste oil and sludge at sea. OMI also agreed to pay a $4.2 million fine and serve three years probation. U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden accepted the guilty plea. Sentencing has been scheduled for May 3. A ship captain and chief engineer previously pled guilty in connection with the case. The ship involved in the case, the Motor Tanker Guadalupe, owned and operated by wholly owned subsidiaries of OMI Corporation, made port calls in the U.S., Europe, the Caribbean and Latin America.

09 Aug 2004

OMI Ordered to Pay $4.2M

Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Christopher J. Christie, U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, announced that a Connecticut-based shipping company that transports petroleum products in the United States and abroad was sentenced to pay $4.2 million for illegally concealing the dumping of thousands of gallons of waste oil and sludge at sea. U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden ordered OMI Corporation, to pay a $4.2 million fine and serve three years of probation. Judge Hayden also awarded $2.1 million of the fine to a former OMI crew member who reported the crimes to the government.

13 Aug 2004

Sabine Transportation Sentenced for Illegal Ocean Dump

Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Charles W. Larson, Sr., U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Iowa, announced that an Iowa-based shipping company that transported grain cargoes and petroleum products in the United States and abroad was sentenced to pay $2 million for illegally dumping thousands of gallons of waste oil, hundreds of tons of diesel-contaminated grain, and plastic wastes at sea. Sabine Transportation Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, admitted it deliberately dumped waste oil, sludge, and oily mixtures from the S/S Trinity, the S/S Juneau, the S/S Sea Princess, and the S/S Colorado without the use of required pollution prevention equipment.

11 Mar 2002

Tanker Company Sentenced

Thomas M. DiBiagio, U.S. Attorney for Maryland and Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department Environment and Natural Resources Division, today announced the sentencing of a Danish shipping company, D/S Progress, to pay a $250,000 criminal fine for conspiring to conceal a hazardous leak in the hull of an oil tanker that visited Baltimore, for failing to report emergency discharges to save the ship and for presenting false log books to the U.S. Coast Guard in order to disguise the leak, emergency discharges and other deliberate acts of dumping oil. D/S Progress, a ship management company based in Copenhagen, Denmark, was responsible for the "Freja Jutlandic," an oil tanker which first arrived in Baltimore on March 22, 2000.

15 Mar 2002

Master and Chief Engineers Arrested

A Ship Captain and Chief Engineers of two foreign flag vessels have been arrested and charged with keeping false log books to conceal the dumping of waste oil and sludge from two ships, obstructing a Coast Guard investigation, and obstruction of justice for allegedly telling crew members to lie to a federal grand jury. The arrests, supported by criminal complaints, were announced by Timothy M. Burgess, United States Attorney for Alaska and Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. The defendants are Doo Hyon Kim, the Captain of the M/V Khana, In Ho Kim, the Chief Engineer of the Khana, and Min Gwen Go, the Chief Engineer of the M/V Sohoh. A preliminary hearing was held today in U.S.

29 May 2002

Chief Engineer Pleads Guilty in Alaska

Je Yong Lee, Chief Engineer of the M/V Sohoh pled guilty in United States District Court to three federal felony crimes. Defendant Lee admitted to keeping and presenting a false log book that concealed the dumping of waste oil and sludge from his ship, obstructing a United States Coast Guard investigation and witness tampering for telling crew members to lie to a federal grand jury in Anchorage. The plea was announced by Timothy M. Burgess, United States Attorney for Alaska and Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. "Crimes against our environment, including those that take place in the waters off our coasts, will not be tolerated," said Sansonetti.

13 Sep 2004

Two More Ship Engineers Plead Guilty

Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Paula D. Silsby, the U.S. Attorney for the District of Maine, announced that late yesterday two chief engineers for a freighter pled guilty for their role in concealing the overboard dumping of waste oil from the M/V Kent Navigator and using false log books designed to deceive the U.S. Coast Guard. The defendants, Chief Engineers Felipe B. Arcolas and Alfredo D. Lozada, worked aboard the Kent Navigator, which is owned and managed by Petraia Maritime Ltd. The government’s investigation began when the U.S. Coast Guard received an anonymous tip that a vessel bound for Portland was illegally discharging its waste oil and its bilges while at sea.

18 Jan 2005

Ship Engineers Sentenced for False Statements

Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, and Paula D. Silsby, United States Attorney for the District of Maine, announced today that two chief engineers of a freighter ship were each sentenced yesterday to two years of probation and a fine of $3000 for their roles in concealing the overboard ocean dumping of waste oil from the M/V Kent Navigator through false log books and statements designed to deceive the U.S. Coast Guard. The defendants, Chief Engineers Alfredo D. Lozada and Felipe B. Arcolas, worked aboard the Kent Navigator, which is owned and operated by Petraia Maritime Ltd. The government’s investigation began when the U.S.

04 Apr 2005

Evergreen Tagged with $25M Bill

The United States Attorneys from five judicial districts with major ports today announced criminal charges against Evergreen International, S.A. (Evergreen), one of many Evergreen-related companies involved in the container ship business. Under the terms of a plea agreement, Evergreen will pay $25 million, the largest-ever amount for a case involving deliberate vessel pollution, and plead guilty to felony charges brought in Los Angeles; Newark, NJ; Portland, OR; Seattle; and Charleston, SC. Evergreen pleaded guilty today to 24 felony counts and one misdemeanor - five counts from each federal district involved in the case - for concealing the deliberate, illegal discharge of waste oil and for a negligent discharge in the Columbia River.

28 Oct 2002

Chief Engineer Sentenced in Tacoma

Chun Do Oh, Chief Engineer of the M/V Rubin Stella sentenced to twelve months plus one day in prison for presenting false entries in an Oil Record Book to the United States Coast Guard. These entries concealed the fact that he had directed the dumping of waste oil and oil sludges from this ship into the Pacific Ocean. The sentencing was announced today by John McKay, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington and Thomas L. Sansonetti, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the United States Department of Justice. The M/V Rubin Stella is a Panamanian-Flagged, bulk carrier vessel of 16,789 gross tons used to transport timber.