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Beveridge & Diamond is a leading environmental, land use and litigation law firm based in Washington, DC, with offices in California, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Texas.
Meet the Contributors
- Peter C. Anderson
- David A. Barker
- Gus B. Bauman
- Daniel P. Berner
- Daniel M. Brian
- Megan R. Brillault
- Lily N. Chinn
- Nadira Clarke
- Richard S. Davis
- Laura Metz Duncan
- Mark N. Duvall
- Russell N. Fraker
- Bethany S. French
- David M. Friedland
- Aaron H. Goldberg
- Marc J. Goldstein
- Jeanine L.G. Grachuk
- Edward M. Grauman
- Paul E. Hagen
- Karen M. Hansen
- Lauren A. Hopkins
- Steven M. Jawetz
- Aladdine D. Joroff
- Madeleine Boyer Kadas
- Heidi P. Knight
- Daniel M. Krainin
- K. Russell LaMotte
- Jayni A. Lanham
- Laura L. LaValle
- Brian C. Levey
- Pamela D. Marks
- Bryan J. Moore
- W. Parker Moore
- Michael G. Murphy
- Zachary M. Norris
- John H. Paul
- Elizabeth M. Richardson
- Stephen M. Richmond
- Peter J. Schaumberg
- Aron H. Schnur
- James B. Slaughter
- Gary J. Smith
- Timothy M. Sullivan
- Kathryn E. Szmuszkovicz
- Ryan R. Tacorda
- Linda Tsang
- Kari L. Twaite
- Nicholas W. van Aelstyn
- Sara L. Vink
- Benjamin F. Wilson
- Alexandra M. ("Andie") Wyatt
- Graham C. Zorn
Topics
- White Collar/Criminal
Recent Posts
- EPA Establishes June 30 Deadline for Oil and Natural Gas Companies’ Submittal of Requests for Alternative Greenhouse Gas Monitoring Methods
- Second Circuit Certifies Medical Monitoring Issue for Ruling by New York High Court
- Twelve Lawyers from Beveridge & Diamond’s Maryland and Washington, DC Offices Receive Super Lawyers Recognition for 2013
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Showing 9 posts in White Collar/Criminal. View our practice description for White Collar/Criminal.
Nadira Clarke Named a "Rising Star" by Diversity & the Bar Magazine
Beveridge & Diamond, P.C. is pleased to announce that Nadira Clarke has been named a “Rising Star” by The Minority Corporate Counsel Association's (MCCA) Diversity & the Bar magazine. Read More ›
Owner of Electronics Export Company Receives a 30-Month Prison Sentence
On March 22, 2013, the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan sentenced Discount Computers, Inc. (“DCI”), a computer company, and its owner for trafficking in counterfeit goods and services and for violating environmental laws related to the fraudulent export of cathode ray tubes (“CRTs). The prosecution of DCI, along with the December 2012 prosecution of a Colorado electronics recycler for illegal exportation of CRTs, demonstrate the federal government’s increased focus on using existing laws to pursue criminal enforcement to address the illegal handling and disposal of e-waste. Cynthia Giles, EPA’s Assistant Administrator for the Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, cautions that these criminal sentences should serve as a warning to all those who illegally export e-waste from the United States. Read More ›
RIN Prosecutions: Where Fraud Meets Environmental Protection . . . Once Again
On February 22, 2013, Rodney Hailey, the owner of Clean Green Fuel LLC, was sentenced to 151 months (or 12.5 years) in prison, and ordered to pay $42 million in restitution, for selling $9 million in fraudulent renewable fuel credits (RFCs) after being convicted in June 2012 of numerous federal crimes, including wire fraud, money laundering and violations of the Clean Air Act. Read More ›
Increased Federal Criminal Enforcement Against Oil and Gas Fracking Companies
While President Obama renewed his support for the “natural gas boom” in his State of the Union address last week, his administration continues to carefully scrutinize the environmental impacts of hydraulic fracturing (or fracking) as a method to access these natural gas reserves. The federal government has been stepping up criminal enforcement actions against oil and gas drilling companies under existing environmental statutes like the Clean Water Act while state and federal governments are in the process of developing policies and regulations specifically targeted at fracking. Read More ›
First-Ever Criminal CPSIA Charges Brought for the Importation and Sale of Hazardous Toys
On February 4, 2013, a 24-count federal indictment was issued charging multiple individuals and companies with importing and trafficking hazardous toys from China into the United States.[1] The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA)[2] added stringent limits on the amount of lead and phthalates in children’s products, including toys. This case, brought by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York and jointly investigated by a number of federal, state and local agencies, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), is the first criminal case alleging violations of these requirements. Read More ›
Federal Criminal Conviction For Illegal Exportation of Electronic Waste
A U.S. recycler has been successfully prosecuted for exporting e-waste containing lead to foreign countries. In December of 2012, a federal jury convicted Executive Recycling, its CEO, and Vice President of Operations on multiple criminal counts, including seven counts of wire fraud, the illegal export of hazardous waste to developing countries, smuggling and obstruction of justice. Executive Recycling was the exporter of record in more than 300 exports from the United States between 2005 and 2008, including the export of over 100,000 cathode ray tubes (“CRTs”) containing lead. CRT disposal is regulated in the United States under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (“RCRA”). The Defendants were found to have falsely advertised to customers that they would dispose of e-waste in an environmentally friendly manner, in the United States rather than overseas. Contrary to such representations, the company was found to have sold e-waste to brokers for export overseas to China and other countries. Read More ›
Unprecedented Pesticides Criminal Penalty and Civil Settlement Announced
On September 7, 2012, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio sentenced Scotts Miracle-Gro Company (SMG), the world’s largest marketer of residential use pesticides, to pay a $4 million fine for eleven criminal violations of the federal law which governs the manufacture, distribution, and use of pesticides (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act or FIFRA). In a separate consent agreement to resolve related civil pesticide violations with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), SMG will also pay more than $6 million in penalties, spend $2 million on environmental projects, and contribute another $500,000 to organizations that protect bird habitat. (To review a copy of the civil consent agreement, click here). The total criminal penalty and civil settlement payment of $12.5 million is the largest payment in the history of FIFRA, according to Ignacia S. Moreno, Assistant Attorney General for the Environment & Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice (DOJ). (To review DOJ’s press release, click here). The criminal indictment and record-breaking fines could signal a new era in the government’s enforcement of the pesticide law. Read More ›
Federal Guidance Issued for the First Time on E-Discovery Best Practices in Criminal Cases
Recent widespread attention to discovery problems in criminal cases such as the prosecution of Senator Ted Stevens has prompted the U.S. Department of Justice to explicitly provide guidelines for criminal discovery through a variety of directives to prosecutors. One such directive is a best practices protocol for the discovery of electronically stored information (“ESI”) in post-indictment criminal cases, released this February. The protocol is the first public guidance on criminal e-discovery by the Federal Government and was developed by the U.S. Department of Justice (“DOJ”) and Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts’ Joint Working Group on Electronic Technology in the Criminal Justice System (“JETWG”) after consultation with federal prosecutors, public defenders and representatives of the judiciary around the country over an 18 month period. Read More ›
First-Ever Criminal Charges Filed Against Exporter of Electronic Waste
On September 15, 2011, a federal grand jury in the District of Colorado indicted an environmental waste recycling company, its chief executive officer, and its former vice president of operations on charges of wire and mail fraud and various environmental crimes for the company’s improper handling of electronic waste (“e-waste”). This marks the first time that criminal charges have been brought against an e-waste exporter in the United States. Read More ›