Summary

On August 9, three employees of Genesis Petroleum, Inc., a Fort Lauderdale, Florida, trucking company, were sentenced to serve five years probation each by a U.S. District Court judge in Fort Lauderdale as a result of their prior guilty pleas to charges of violating Federal hazardous material transportation (hazmat) regulations by hauling and storing gasoline and diesel fuel without required safeguards.

Leonel San Martin, Alberto Alvarez, and Yoel Betancourt, pleaded guilty on May 31 to charges of conspiring to commit wire fraud and failing to properly placard, store, transport, transfer, and handle fuel transported from terminals at Port Everglades, Florida, to customers between Key West and Fort Pierce, Florida. Another employee, Noel Delgado-Hernandez, was sentenced to five years probation on August 3 as a result of his guilty plea on similar charges. Genesis and its director, Ricardo Mejia, are scheduled for sentencing on September 10. Company drivers submitted false delivery receipts stating they had delivered fuel to their customers, when in fact, they diverted 11,000 gallons of fuel to illegal tanks located in a vacant lot leased by Mejia near Port Everglades. The fuel was used by Genesis employees, their relatives and friends for personal and business use. This case was investigated with the Internal Revenue Service, the Office of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and several Broward County
agencies.