SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - David L. Frisby, age 65, of Kiln, Mississippi, was sentenced today to 18 months in prison for defrauding scrap metal brokerage firms out of more than $144,000. 

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian; Vernesa Jones-Allen, Special Agent in Charge of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Criminal Investigations Division, and EPA Office of Inspector General Special Agent in Charge Thomas Muskett. 

The sentence was imposed by Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby.  In addition to the term of imprisonment, Frisby was ordered to pay $144,216 in restitution to his victims. 

Frisby, formerly of Fultonville, New York, pled guilty on December 10, 2015 to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with a scheme in which he and others entered into contracts for the disposal of batteries and other metal waste under false pretenses.  As part of his plea agreement, Frisby admitted that he and his co-conspirators falsely held themselves out to be representatives of a scrap metal recycling firm that was authorized by the EPA to dispose of metal waste by shipping it to Korea, and that they defrauded businesses and individuals by charging them for recycling services that were never provided.  In reality, Frisby and his co-conspirators were not authorized by the EPA to provide scrap metal recycling services and never intended to provide such services. 

To further the scheme, Frisby, who formerly served as the Chief Executive Officer of D & L Heritage Enterprises, Inc., provided his co-conspirators with D & L Heritage incorporation documents that were fraudulently altered and e-mailed to victims.  Victims transferred money to bank accounts maintained by Frisby, who retained a portion of the funds for his personal benefit and transferred the remainder to his co-conspirators overseas. 

The case was investigated by the EPA Criminal Investigations Division and the EPA Office of the Inspector General.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean O’Dowd.