Lee Vann Crawford Guilty in CRT Lead Dumping Scam

Lee Vann Crawford, 51, of Greenville, North Carolina, pleaded guilty yesterday to Knowing Storage of Hazardous Waste Without a Permit, a federal felony under Title 42, United States Code, Section 6928(d)(2)(A). The charge stems from years of illegal handling and storage of toxic e-waste at an unlicensed facility in Martin County, exposing local residents to dangerous levels of lead.

Crawford owned and operated Eastern Electronics Recycling, USA, a company that claimed to responsibly process electronic waste like old televisions and computer monitors. In reality, the business served as a dumping ground for massive quantities of cathode ray tubes (CRTs), which contain highly toxic lead. Beginning as early as 2012, Crawford amassed tons of broken electronics at 800 W. Green Street in Robersonville, NC—shattered CRTs scattered across the site, leaching poison into the soil and air.

Despite repeated federal and state regulations requiring permits for hazardous waste storage, Crawford never obtained authorization from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or North Carolina authorities. Worse, he made no effort to recycle or safely dispose of the CRTs. Instead, he allowed the waste to decay in the open, dismantling and crushing devices in ways that accelerated the release of toxic materials.

In June 2019, the EPA executed a search warrant at the Robersonville site. Investigators found piles of fragmented CRT glass and collected samples from multiple locations. Lab tests revealed lead levels between 102 and 188 milligrams per liter—up to 37 times the federal hazardous waste threshold of 5 milligrams per liter. The contamination posed a severe and immediate threat to nearby residents and groundwater supplies.

The crime carries a maximum penalty of 5 years in federal prison and a $50,000 fine for each day of violation. Sentencing is scheduled for February 2022. Acting U.S. Attorney G. Norman Acker, III announced the plea, emphasizing that environmental laws are not optional. “This wasn’t just negligence—it was deliberate, ongoing criminal conduct,” said Acker. “Crawford chose profit over public safety. Now he answers for it. “

Special Agent in Charge Charles Carfagno of the EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division in Atlanta called the case a textbook example of environmental endangerment. “The illegal storage and disposal of Cathode Ray Tube waste containing hazardous amounts of Lead contamination needlessly put the lives of the residents of Martin County, NC, and the general public at an increased risk to Lead exposure,” Carfagno stated. The investigation was led by the EPA’s Criminal Investigative Division and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation, with Assistant U.S. Attorney William M. Gilmore prosecuting. Court records are available under Case No. 5:20-CR-245-1D(2) via the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or PACER.