PCO Pleads Guilty to Permitting Infested Ag Products to Enter U.S.

LAREDO, Texas — Arturo Ramirez, the owner of a pest control service located in Laredo, has pleaded guilty to illegally permitting infested agricultural products to enter the U.S. from Mexico, United States Attorney Don DeGabrielle announced. Ramirez, 46, owns Ambush Exterminators and will be sentenced Sept. 3, 2008.

Ramirez pleaded guilty to six counts of the superseding indictment before U.S. District Judge Micaela Alvarez on June 17. As part of the guilty plea, Ramirez admitted that beginning in or about 2005, and continuing to April 15, 2008, he conspired with others to not properly perform fumigations, thereby permitting agricultural products infested with a plant pest to enter the United States.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agricultural inspectors are responsible for initially inspecting trucks carrying agricultural products into the United States via Laredo from Mexico. At or near the initial inspection, CBP agricultural inspectors send a sample of any agricultural product suspected of being infested with a plant pest to plant protection and quarantine for a final determination. If a determination is made that a truck entering the U.S. is carrying an agricultural product infested with a plant pest, the infested product must be fumigated before the truck is permitted to leave Laredo.

A plant protection and quarantine officer is required to be present during the fumigation, because the officer must make initial calculations regarding the level of gas needed to spray the agricultural product infested with a plant pest and subsequently advise the fumigation technician of the same prior to beginning the fumigation. Following this, the officer is required to submit a written report to the USDA documenting the fumigation results. The truck carrying the agricultural products is not permitted to leave Laredo until the plant protection and quarantine officer provides consent.

The fumigations normally occur after-hours, and the plant protection and quarantine officers are paid overtime for their work related to the fumigations. The overtime paid to the plant protection and quarantine officers as well as the cost for the company performing the fumigations are ultimately passed onto either the Mexican exporter or the owner of the agricultural goods.

As part of his guilty plea, Ramirez admitted he would seek payment from the freight forwarding company/customs broker for fumigations that Ambush never properly performed.

Jose Homero Reyes, 48, and Robert Perez, 35, both of whom previously worked as USDA plant protection and quarantine officers, are also charged in the superseding indictment. Reyes and Perez are pending trial and presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law. Rafael Edmundo Melo Jr., a fourth USDA plant protection and quarantine officer, was originally charged in a 29-count indictment. The case against Melo was dismissed by the government after he committed suicide.

The guilty plea to conspiracy to permit agricultural products infested with a plant pest to enter the United States carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine upon conviction. Each of the guilty pleas to the substantive counts of permitting an infested agricultural product from entering the U.S. carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.

The investigation leading to these guilty pleas 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 Attorney Sam Sheldon and James Seaman.