Tampa corporations and residents have been sentenced in connection with a scheme to unlawfully sell an unregistered pesticide and obstruct justice. New Nautical Coatings, Inc., d/b/a ‘Sea Hawk Paints,’ and Sea Hawk Refinish Line, Inc., d/b/a ‘Refinish Line Auto Supplies,’ of Clearwater, Florida, along with Hillsborough County residents Erik Norrie, 42, David Norrie, 46, Jason Revie, 44, and Tommy Craft, 46, were sentenced today before U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro in Miami, Florida.
New Nautical Coatings, Inc., which pled guilty to willfully conspiring to obstruct the Environmental Protection Agency, was sentenced to pay a fine of $1,235,315.00, which constituted a disgorgement of the unlawful gains the company derived from the offense. The company was also sentenced to a three-year period of probation, which requires New Nautical to complete an Environmental Compliance Program during that period of time.
David Norrie, who also pled guilty to willfully conspiring to obstruct the Environmental Protection Agency, was sentenced to five months in prison and six months of home confinement. Erik Norrie, who pled guilty to willfully conspiring to knowingly distribute and sell an unregistered pesticide, was sentenced to 3 months in prison. Sea Hawk Refinish Line, Inc., who pled guilty to the same conspiracy, was sentenced to probation for one year. Jason Revie and Tommy Craft previously pled guilty to knowingly distributing and selling an unregistered pesticide and were each sentenced to a one-year period of probation.
According to the Superseding Indictment and other court documents, New Nautical manufactured an antifouling coating called Biocop, which contained tributyltin methacrylate, also known as ‘TBT,’ a chemical compound which was found to have significant harmful effects on marine life. TBT-based paints such as Biocop are pesticides subject to registration with the EPA. On or about March 30, 2005, the EPA cancelled New Nautical’s registration for Biocop, making it unlawful for the company to manufacture Biocop for sale in the United States after December 1, 2005, or sell Biocop in the United States after December 31, 2005.
Despite the cancellation order, New Nautical continued to produce Biocop for sale in the United States from 2006 through 2009. In order to conceal this post-cancellation production of Biocop, New Nautical employees were directed to change the batch numbers on cans of Biocop, which previously referenced the date of production, to a series of numbers ending in ‘9999.’ During this time period, New Nautical used its sales team and staff, including David Norrie, Erik Norrie, Jason Revie, and Tommy Craft, to sell and distribute unregistered Biocop in the Southern District of Florida and elsewhere in the United States, but invoiced those sales through its sister company, Refinish Line.
On May 22, 2009, after David Norrie sold 60 gallons of Biocop to a customer in Broward County, Norrie directed the customer to tell EPA investigators that the customer did not have Biocop, and that New Nautical did not sell Biocop. Roughly six months later, in November 2009, EPA and Florida Fish and Wildlife agents and investigators executed a search warrant on New Nautical’s premises, and seized evidence which led to the indictment and conviction of the defendants.
Mr. Ferrer commended the investigative efforts of EPA-CID, EPA-OIG, and FWCC. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alejandro O. Soto and Maria Medetis.
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Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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