Source: Office of United States Attorneys
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – ServisMed, LLC, of Pensacola, Florida, pleaded guilty and was sentenced to engaging in a conspiracy to violate the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (“FIFRA”). John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida announced the guilty plea and sentence.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “This company broke the law by exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to enrich itself through the deceptive distribution of a chemical agent that had not been registered or approved for use on humans. This conviction and sentence holds this company accountable for its corporate criminal conduct, and should serve as a deterrent against future criminal schemes that endanger our community.”
Court documents reveal that ServisMed, LLC, which was located on South Palafox Street in Pensacola, was a distribution company licensed to market and sell products that included disinfectant pesticides. During the COVID-19 pandemic, between March and December 2020, ServisMed, LLC, conspired with others to distribute a pesticide product – in this instance purporting to fight COVID-19 – without it being registered with the Environmental Protection Agency as required. This included ServisMed, LLC, distributing such product to a local law enforcement agency as well as attempting to export the product to the foreign countries of Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Registration and proper labeling of pesticide products to be used on humans are intended, in part, to protect citizens of the United States against potential harms in using such pesticides and against potential danger when such pesticides are traveling on American soil during the distribution process for foreign export. Law enforcement was able to stop foreign exports by ServisMed, LLC, and others valued at over $250,000.
Pursuant to the guilty plea, ServisMed, LLC, will pay restitution to the local law enforcement agency in the amount of $13,330; pay a $40,000 fine; forfeit the foreign export products valued at over $250,000; and dissolve as a company.
“The defendant in this case sold unregistered pesticides in the midst of a global pandemic and sought to profit from people’s fears of contracting the coronavirus,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kristopher Martel of EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division. “The sentencing demonstrates that corporations will be held criminally responsible for placing the public at risk by failing to ensure the integrity and safety of their products.”
The case was jointly investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency – Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Commerce – Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Justin M. Keen.
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.