USAO, District of Massachusetts - Press Release

Summary

On July 31, 2013, in U.S. District Court, Boston, Massachusetts, Aaron David Beauchesne, former owner of Beauchesne Fire Equipment (BFE), was sentenced to 6 months home confinement, 24 months of probation, a $100.00 special assessment and required to pay restitution in the amount of $77,953, for his role in violating federal hazardous materials regulations relating to the testing and requalification of compressed gas cylinders. Nearly 6,000 cylinders, such as those used in hospitals, were stamped with a re-tester identification number (RIN) indicating required hydrostatic testing had been completed when it had not. 

BFE was certified by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) as an approved requalification facility for re-testing and re-qualifying compressed gas cylinders. The investigation disclosed that throughout 2011 and continuing through early 2012, Beauchesne and/or BFE employees under his direction, failed to conduct hydrostatic testing on compressed gas cylinders and failed to complete cylinder testing data sheets. Even though clients were invoiced for these fraudulent tests.

We conducted this investigation with assistance from PHMSA.