DOJ Environmental Crimes Bulletin Lists 14 Cases, March 2026

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Environmental Crimes Bulletin – March 2026

Friday, April 24, 2026

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The Environmental Crimes Bulletin is a monthly publication produced by the Environmental Crimes Section.

Leadership

Joseph Poux, Acting Chief

Contact

Email: Joseph.Poux@usdoj.gov

Phone: (202) 532-3062

In This Issue:

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Cases by District/Circuit

District/Circuit	Case Name	Conduct/Statute(s)
11 th Circuit Court of Appeals	United States v. Jose Carrillo	Dog Fighting with Upward Variance Sentencing
Central District of California	United States v. Raymond Nunez	Dog Fighting; Animal Fighting Venture
Eastern District of California	United States v. Paulo Perez–Mendoza	Pesticide Smuggling; Conspiracy
Southern District of California	United States v. Carlos Abundez	Toucan Smuggling
United States v. Ricardo Alonzo	Exotic Bird Smuggling; Lacey Act
Southern District of Florida	United States v. Sunseeker Int’l Ltd.	Timber Trafficking; Lacey Act
United States v. Francisco Javier Ravelo	Animal Crush Videos; Conspiracy
Southern District of Indiana	United States v. Jessica Barron Zamora	Falsified Asbestos Certificates; Wire Fraud
Eastern District of Kentucky	United States v. Natalie Fehse, et al.	Hazardous Waste Storage; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Eastern District of Missouri	United States v. Visionary Bowling Products, et al.	Hazardous Waste Storage; Resource Conservation and Recovery Act
Southern District of Ohio	United States v. Katrina D. Favret, et al.	Animal Crush Videos; Conspiracy
Western District of Pennsylvania	United States v. Amanda Leigh Fourez	Animal Crush Videos; Conspiracy
Northern District of Texas	United States v. Seafood Supply Co., L.P.	Seafood Sales; Lacey Act
Northern District of West Virginia	United States v. Michael Kandis	Reptile Trafficking; Lacey Act

Decisions

United States v. Jose Carrillo

• No. 25-10722 (11th Cir.) On March 16, 2026, the Eleventh Circuit affirmed Jose Carrillo’s 84-month sentence for conspiracy to participate in an animal fighting venture (18 U.S.C. § 371) and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person (18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)). Carrillo had pleaded guilty to both charges, and the United States had recommended a sentence at the top of the Guidelines range, which was 18-24 months’ incarceration. The district court varied upward to impose a sentence of 84 months of incarceration, which consisted of 60 months as to the conspiracy and 60 months on the firearms charge, 24 of which will run consecutively with the conspiracy sentence.

On appeal, Carrillo argued only that the sentence was substantively unreasonable. The Eleventh Circuit agreed with the government that the district court did not abuse its discretion in varying upward to achieve adequate deterrence and reflect the seriousness of the offense, based on (1) the “extreme cruelty” of Carrillo’s multi-year dogfighting venture, which involved torturing animals, maintaining a blood-stained dogfighting venue, and housing dogs in squalid conditions; and (2) Carrillo’s drug use and history of fatal drug distribution. The Court also agreed that the district court did not abuse its discretion when it heard, but failed to discuss, mitigating evidence of substance abuse and limited education. Finally, the Court agreed with the government that the district court reasonably determined that Carrillo was not similarly situated to a comparator based on the nature of the offense and Carrillo’s additional firearm conviction.

Recently Charged

United States v. Raymond Nunez

• No. 2:26-mj-01222 (Central District of California)
• AUSA Dennis Mitchell On March 4, 2026, prosecutors filed a complaint charging Raymond Nunez with hosting dog fights and illegally breeding, training, and exhibiting dogs for fighting. Nunez also is charged as a felon in possession of firearms (7 U.S.C. § 2156(b); 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)).

Between December 2025 and February 2026, Nunez illegally exhibited, bred, and trained dogs for dog fighting at his home in Hacienda Heights, California. He also possessed firearms, which he is not legally permitted to do following a felony conviction in Los Angeles Superior Court in 1991 for unlawful taking of a vehicle.

On March 3, 2026, agents executed a search warrant at Nunez’s home and seized, among other things: an AK-47-style assault rifle and a shotgun; 10 firearms in a safe in the master bedroom; an emaciated pit bull that was bleeding and chained to a cable in the yard; a second pit bull with scars in a bloody caged area; multiple dog treadmills; a rope with a scale for weighing dogs; and a skin stapler and syringes.

This case is part of the federal, state, and local Dog Fighting and Animal Abuse Task Force spearheaded by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California and Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office launched in 2025.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Marshals Service conducted the investigation.

United States v. Amanda Leigh Fourez

• No. 26-CR-00064 (Western District of Pennsylvania)
• ECS Trial Attorney Emily Stone
• AUSA Kelly Locher On March 26, 2026, prosecutors charged Amanda Leigh Fourez by information with Conspiracy to Create Animal Crush Videos and Distribution of Animal Crush Videos (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(3)). She was involved in Telegram groups dedicated to creating and distributing sexual torture videos of baby monkeys. Fourez and her co-conspirators used cryptocurrency to pay videographers in Southeast Asia to make crush videos. Fourez has admitted to sending thousands of dollars to video creators and commissioning between 50-100 videos.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

United States v. Jessica Barron Zamora

• No. 1:26-CR-00064 (Southern District of Indiana)
• AUSA Adam Eakman On March 24, 2026, prosecutors charged Jessica Barron with wire fraud for producing and distributing fraudulent asbestos training certificates to untrained individuals (18 U.S.C. § 1343). Trial is scheduled to begin on June 8, 2026.

Between March 2021 and February 2022, Zamora set up an asbestos certification program, even though she was not an approved asbestos abatement training provider. She sold fake certifications to people without giving them any training, using a template from a legitimate training provider. She charged her customers between $150 and $500 and submitted the certifications for them to various state licensing agencies. In total, she provided approximately 150 fake certifications, collecting $35,000 as a result.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

United States v. Sunseeker Int’l Ltd.

• No. 26-CR-60078 (Southern District of Florida)
• ECS Trial Attorney Emily Stone
• AUSA Daniel Rosenfeld On March 30, 2026, prosecutors filed a two-count information charging Sunseeker International (a company based in the United Kingdom) and Sunseeker USA Sales (a Delaware corporation). The companies are charged with violating the Lacey Act by using illegally harvested teak from Myanmar on their yachts in violation of UK law and selling and transporting those yachts from the UK to the United States (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(B)(i), 3373(d)(2)).

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

Guilty Pleas

United States v. Francisco Javier Ravelo

• No. 1:25-CR-20477 (Southern District of Florida)
• ECS Trial Attorney Emily Stone
• AUSA Brooke Latta On March 2, 2026, Francisco Javier Ravelo pleaded guilty to violating the animal crush statute for distributing approximately 40 videos between September 2024 and February 2025 (18 U.S.C. § 48(a)(3)). Sentencing is scheduled for May 21, 2026.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

United States v. Visionary Bowling Products, et al.

• No. 4:24-CR-00518 (Eastern District of Missouri)
• AUSA Dianna Edwards On March 4, 2026, Visionary Bowling Products (VBP) pleaded guilty to violating the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act for illegally storing hazardous waste (42 U.S.C. § 6928(d)(2)(A)). Company owners John Wonders, Sr., and Jason Wonders entered into pretrial diversion.

VBP operated a 60,000 square-foot factory, where it manufactured bowling balls for around 20 years before ceasing operations in July 2019.

When the defendants abandoned the property in October 2019, they left behind a variety of chemicals and industrial materials. On October 21, 2021, a fire ignited and burned for around 12 hours, requiring multiple fire departments to respond. Officials evacuated nearby homes and businesses due to the potential hazard posed by the burning chemicals. The next day, a smaller fire rekindled but was quickly extinguished.

Local environmental officials later discovered hundreds of discarded and abandoned containers at the facility in various stages of deterioration. Testing by federal environmental officials confirmed that the defendants had illegally stored hazardous waste at the site.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources conducted the investigation.

United States v. Seafood Supply Co., L.P.

• No. 3:26-CR-00088 (Northern District of Texas)
• ECS Trial Attorney Christopher Hale
• AUSA Rene Hunter
• ECS Law Clerk Amanda Backer On March 4, 2026, Seafood Supply Company, L.P. (SSC), pleaded guilty to a two-count information charging the company with two felony violations of Lacey Act False Labeling (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(d)(1), 3373(d)(3)(A)(i)). Sentencing is scheduled for June 17, 2026.

SSC is a seafood wholesaler in Dallas, Texas. Between January 2020 and February 2022, the company sold Chilean salmon that it falsely labeled as more expensive salmon from Scotland, Norway, and Canada. The defendant used this fraudulent “country-of-origin” labeling scheme to generate illegal gains of approximately $200,000.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

United States v. Paulo Perez-Mendoza

• No. 2:24-CR-00073 (Eastern District of California)
• AUSA Calvin Lee On March 20, 2026, Paulo Perez-Mendoza pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States and to distribute and sell unregistered pesticides (18 U.S.C. § 371). Sentencing is scheduled for August 28, 2026.

Between January 2019 and March 2024, Perez-Mendoza arranged for co-conspirators to transport illegal pesticides (Taktic and Bovitraz) from Mexico into the United States. These individuals distributed the chemicals throughout the country, including Florida, Georgia, Oregon, and Washington state. In March 2024, agents executed a search warrant at Perez-Mendoza’s residence. They found more than 200 bottles containing pesticide in a shed that one smuggler used to unload the pesticides he sold to the defendant.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigative Division conducted the investigation with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations and the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations.

Sentencings

United States v. Carlos Abundez

• No. 25-CR-03056 (Southern District of California)
• AUSA Jacqueline Jimenez On March 2, 2026, a court sentenced **** Carlos Abundez to pay $74,330 into the Lacey Act Reward Fund for smuggling wildlife. Abundez pleaded guilty to smuggling 14 keel-billed toucans, which he had concealed inside the dashboard of his vehicle (18 U.S.C. § 545).

On June 25, 2025, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents stopped Abundez at the Otay Mesa Port of Entry at the U.S.-Mexico border. Upon further inspection, a CBP officer found a bound bird that was wrapped in cloth and duct taped under the car’s dashboard.

The officer did not know what the object was until it began to move and flutter. Agents then pried open the side panel of the dashboard and discovered 14 sedated juvenile keel-billed toucans hidden there. Some of the birds sustained injuries including broken tails and a broken leg. Border Veterinary Services treated the birds and then transferred them to a Department of Agriculture Animal Import Center for quarantine. Smuggled birds that are not subject to quarantine can be dangerous as they may carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu) and other diseases.

Keel-billed toucans are native to the region stretching from southern Mexico through Ecuador, including Venezuela, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Because of their threatened status, they are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Toucans are sold as pets for up to $5,000 per bird.

The toucans are recuperating at The Bronx Zoo in New York, though they can never be returned to the wild due to health conditions.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

Toucans at the Bronx Zoo.

United States v. Katrina D. Favret, et al.

• No. 2:25-CR-00071 (Southern District of Ohio)
• ECS Trial Attorney Mark Romley
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Adam Cullman
• AUSA Nicole Pakiz
• ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris On March 19, 2026, a court sentenced Katrina D. Favret to 40 months’ incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release. Favret pleaded guilty to conspiracy and creating and distributing animal crush videos (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 48(a)(2), 48(a)(3)). Co-defendant Robert M. Craig previously pleaded guilty to conspiring to create and distribute animal crush videos (18 U.S.C. § 371).

The defendants were involved in online groups dedicated to creating and distributing videos depicting acts of extreme violence and sexual abuse against monkeys. The conspirators used encrypted chat applications to direct money to individuals in Indonesia willing to commit the requested acts of torture on camera.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement conducted the investigation.

Related Press Release: Office of Public Affairs | Tennessee Woman Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Create and Distribute Videos Depicting Monkey Torture and Mutilation | United States Department of Justice

alonzo United States v. Ricardo Alonzo

• No. 3:25-CR-02234 (Southern District of California)
• AUSA Parker Gardner-Erickson On March 23, 2026, a court sentenced Ricardo Alonzo to 90 days’ incarceration followed by two years of supervised release. Alonzo also will pay $3,260 in restitution to the Lacey Act Reward Fund.

Alonzo pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act and smuggling for transporting 17 exotic birds into the United States from Mexico under the seat of his car (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(1)(A); 18 U.S.C. § 545).

On May 4, 2025, authorities intercepted Alonzo as he drove over the border from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. Officers found four bags containing 10 burrowing parakeets, five yellow-crowned Amazon parrots, and two red-lored Amazon parrot chicks under the rear seat. The two red-lored Amazon parrot chicks did not survive; the remaining birds were transferred to a quarantine facility managed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Amazon parrots are native to Mexico, the West Indies, and northern South America, and burrowing parakeets are native to Chile and Argentina. All species of Amazon parrots, as well as burrowing parakeets, are listed on either Appendix I or Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.

Smuggled birds that are not subject to quarantine can prove dangerous as they may carry and spread Avian influenza (bird flu) and other diseases. Bird flu is highly contagious and can cause flu-like symptoms, respiratory illness, pneumonia, and death in humans and other birds, including those housed on poultry farms.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation.

Related Press Release: Southern District of California | San Diego Man Sentenced to Three Months for Smuggling 17 Protected Parrots and Parakeets | United States Department of Justice

United States v. Michael Kandis

• No. 5:25-CR-00005 (Northern District of West Virginia)
• ECS Trial Attorney Lauren Steele
• AUSA David Perri On March 23, 2026, a court sentenced Michael Kandis to complete a one-year term of probation. Kandis must also allow wildlife agents to inspect his business, the Ohio Valley Reptile House, and abandon any animals he possesses in violation of any state or federal wildlife law. Kandis pleaded guilty to a Lacey Act trafficking offense (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(2)(A), 3373(d)(2)).

Kandis is a reptile dealer in Wheeling, West Virginia. Indiana Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) conservation officers became acquainted with Kandis through a long-term investigation in which they operated in a covert capacity at various reptile shows throughout the Midwest.

During their investigation, the IDNR officers conducted several wildlife transactions involving Kandis. In October 2019, Kandis purchased 47 snakes from undercover officers, 25 of which were bullsnakes, for a total price of $1,415. The sale was conducted in Noblesville, Indiana. Bullsnakes are a native species in Indiana, and it is illegal to sell them under Indiana law. Kandis later transported the snakes from Indiana to West Virginia to sell.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and IDNR conducted the investigation.

United States v. Natalie Fehse, et al.

• Nos. 2:25-CR-00083, 2:26-CR-00011(Eastern District of Kentucky)
• ECS Senior Trial Attorney Matthew T. Morris
• AUSA Emily Greenfield
• ECS Paralegal Chloe Harris On March 30, 2026, a court sentenced Natalie Fehse to complete a five-year term of probation, to include 10 months of home detention, and to pay a $5,000 fine. Fehse pleaded guilty to knowingly storing hazardous waste without a permit in violation of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (42 U.S.C. § 6928).

Fehse worked as the general manager at GoTec Plus Sun, LLC, located in Williamson, Kentucky. GoTec applied coatings and adhesives to metal automotive parts and generated hazardous waste when the manufacturing equipment was cleaned of overspray. The Kentucky Department of Environmental Protection inspected the facility in June 2024 and discovered 249 drums and 27 cubic yards of hazardous waste stored without a permit throughout the facility.

On November 5, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) seized records and samples from the facility pursuant to a search warrant. Fehse confessed that the hazardous waste had accumulated since the summer of 2020 due to staffing shortages and corporate financial constraints caused by the COVID pandemic.

The U.S. EPA Criminal Investigation Division conducted the investigation.

View All Environmental Crimes Bulletins

Updated April 24, 2026 Topics Animal Welfare Environment Wildlife Components Environment and Natural Resources Division ENRD - Environmental Crimes Section

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