NJ Business Man Sentenced for Selling Pesticides Falsely Said to Combat COVID-19; Products Used at Newark Schools - RLS Media
A federal judge sentenced a South-Jersey man to 5 years in jail who sold more than $2.7 million worth of pesticides he falsely claimed were registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as being effective against coronavirus, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger and Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division reported Thursday.
According to federal officials, Paul Andrecola, 63, of Maple Shade, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Robert B. Kugler in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count each of knowingly distributing or selling an unregistered pesticide in violation of the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA), wire fraud, and presenting false claims to the United States. Judge Kugler imposed the sentence today in Camden federal court.
Some of the hand sanitizer products was used by staff and students in Newark Public Schools.
“Paul Andrecola’s scheme profited on the fears of the American people during the height of concerns about transmission of COVID-19,” U.S. Attorney Sellinger said. “Our office is dedicated to protecting public health and prosecuting to the full extent of the law fraudsters who commit such egregious criminal acts.”
“The defendant committed a brazen fraud amid a global pandemic and sought to profit from people’s fears of contracting the coronavirus,” Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the...
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