EPA Fugitives - Captured/Surrendered
On this page, we provide information about fugitives who have either been captured and returned to federal authorities or who have surrendered to federal authorities. They will face their original charges; have a sentence imposed against them; or complete their original sentence. To view a complete listing of EPA Fugitives still at-large, please visit the EPA Fugitives web page.
2009
2008
Larkin Baggett
- On September 19, 2007, Baggett, owner/operator of Chemical Consultants, Inc. of North Salt Lake, Utah, was indicted in the District of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, on four felony counts of violating the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Title 42 Section 6928(d)(2)(A) and two felony counts of federal Clean Water Act Title 33 Section 1319(c)(2)(A).
- Chemical Consultants, Inc. was a company that mixes and sells chemical products for use in various industries and was a large quantity generator of hazardous waste.
- Chemical Consultants, Inc. is alleged to have dumped, without a permit, hazardous waste on to a gravel-covered portion of property leased to his business in 2003 and 2005.
- He is also alleged to have dumped chemical wastes into the sanitary sewer in 2004 and 2005 which caused a total of 22 pass-through events at the South Davis Sewer District in Davis County, Utah.
- It is alleged that he disposed of waste from sulfuric acids, hydrofluoric and hydrochloric acids that he used to produce products his company sold.
- Baggett was arrested on the above charges on September 20, 2007, by federal EPA-CID special agents and the Utah Attorney General’s Office agents.
- He was subsequently released from federal custody with conditions pending his trial.
- On April 22, 2008, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Baggett for violating the conditions of his release pending his trial.
- His trial was scheduled to begin on June 2, 2008.
- Baggett was taken into Federal custody on March 13, 2009 in Florida.
- On April 16 2009, Baggett was charged by a federal Grand Jury in Miami with assaulting law enforcement officers and illegally possessing eight firearms while he was a fugitive from the District of Utah on an environmental crimes prosecution.
Bhavesh H. Kamdar
- On June 30, 2004, Bhavesh Kamdar was indicted in the Western District of New York in Buffalo, New York, on a 30 count indictment, charging mail fraud and money laundering, in violation of Title 18 USC 1341 and 18 USC 1957.
- Bhavesh Kamdar, an environmental consultant and former president of Industrial Site Services, Incorporated (ISS), was awarded a $4.9 million Underground Storage Tank (UST) remedial contract by the New York State Office of General Services (NYOGS), which included a $500,000 performance bond premium/collateral price that Kamdar falsely declared to have paid, but he did not make.
- During the performance of the contract, Kamdar received from New York State over $500,000 installment refunds of the performance bond costs to which he was not entitled. In addition, the indictment charges that Kamdar laundered the monies he received from over-billing New York State into his personal financial accounts.
- The Indictment is seeking the forfeiture of over $5.9 million.
- Prior to his indictment, Kamdar left the United States and returned to India.
- On July 16, 2004, an arrest warrant for Kamdar was issued by the United States District Court, Western District of New York, based upon on the indictment.
- On August 2006, Kamdar, a fugitive living in Rajkot, India, was arrested by the Rajkot Police, as a subject of an INTERPOL Red Notice.
- On October 13, 2006, Kamdar was released on bail from India custody. Subsequent to his release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office had been seeking extradition of Kamdar through coordination with the appropriate government agencies and countries.
- On February 18, 2009, Kamdar was arrested by EPA Special Agents at JFK International Airport.
- Kamdar was arraigned on February 19, 2009, when he plead not guilty. He was released from federal custody on a $1,000,000 bond pending the scheduling of his trial.
David Enrique Ortiz, AKA "Dave"
- David E. Ortiz of Grand Junction, Colorado, was found guilty in U.S. District Court following a jury trial on October 15, 2003 related to violations of the Clean Water Act due to illegally discharging de-icing chemicals into the Colorado River.
- Ortiz was the plant manager for Chemical Specialties, a company that distills and recycles propylene glycol, an aircraft de-icing chemical.
- On April 28, 2004, Ortiz was sentenced in U.S. District Court by Chief District Court Judge, Richard Matsch.
- Ortiz was sentenced to 12 months of prison, and a $2,000 fine. Ortiz was released under the conditions of supervised release pending the outcome of the appeals process. Prior to Ortiz's appeal he failed to comply with the conditions of his supervised release and a federal warrant was issued for his arrest as of October 28, 2004.
- Ortiz's appeal was denied by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals, and the government appealed both the sentence imposed by the U.S. District Court and the dismissal of Count 1 of the jury conviction. The government received favorable rulings by the U.S. 10th Circuit Court of Appeals.
- In 2008, David Ortiz was arrested in Adams County Colorado for driving with a suspended license and driving under the influence. Ortiz spent several months in the Adams County Jail as a result of the conviction on these charges. In March of 2008, the Adams County Jail contacted the U.S. Marshall's office that previously placed a federal hold on David E. Ortiz for a failure to report to the U.S. Probation Office.
- On May 30, 2008 David E. Ortiz was re-sentenced in U.S. District Court. Ortiz received: 12 months on Count One; 24 months on Count Two (concurrent); 1 year Supervised Release; $2,000 fine; $125 special assessment fee.
- Ortiz is currently serving his federal sentence.
- For more information on this case...
David Allen Phillips
- In July of 2001, David Allan Phillips went to trial on violations of the Clean Water Act as well as Money Laundering and Wire Fraud in the U.S. District of Montana. Phillips was convicted of multiple violations of the Clean Water Act and Conspiracy to violate the Clean Water Act at trial in the U.S. District Court of Montana. Phillips conviction resulted from a recreational home site development. Phillips property and subdivision development caused significant impacts to a wetland areas and a water of the U.S. known as Fred Burr Creek in Phillipsburg, Montana.
- In January of 2002, Phillips was sentenced to 3 months of home confinement, 3 months in a pre-release center in Butte, MT. and five years of probation.
- In February 2003, Phillips violated his probation resulting in the U.S. District Court revoking his probation and sentencing Phillips to serve 33 months of incarceration due to the July 2001 convictions of the Clean Water Act.
- In August 2003, a case was brought before a Federal Grand Jury in the U.S. District of Montana related to David Allan Phillip's violating several conditions of his probation. The alleged violations include providing false information to the U.S. District Court. Phillips allegedly provided false financial affidavits to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals as well as the U.S. District Court of Montana in January and March of 2003.
- Phillips was indicted by a U.S. Federal Grand Jury in August of 2003 for two counts of Perjury/False Declarations before the U.S. Courts under Title 18 U.S.C. 1623.
- While Phillips was serving a 33 month sentence of incarceration due to the July 2001 conviction in the U.S. District Court of Montana, Phillips escaped from Federal Prison in Sheridan, Oregon in March 2004.
- Phillips remained a fugitive from justice until his apprehension in March of 2008. A combined effort by the Mexican Law Enforcement Officers, the U.S. Marshall's office, and the U.S. EPA-CID resulted in Phillips deportation from Mexico where he was taken into U.S. Federal custody in late March 2008.
- On April 5, 2008, Phillips was arraigned on the escape charges in the U.S. Oregon District Court. Currently Phillips is facing charges in both U.S. District Court in Oregon and Montana.
- Phillips was arraigned in the District Court of Montana on February 25, 2009. A trial date has not been set and he is in federal custody.