DOJ and the Federal Trade Commission settled a case against Lithionics Battery and its founder and owner, Steven Tartaglia, accusing them of falsely claiming that their battery and battery module products were made in the U.S., DOJ announced May 4. Lithionics and Tartaglia agreed to pay $105,319.56 in civil penalties (U.S. v. Lithionics Battery, M.D. Fla. #8:22-00868).
Michael Monegro, a Philippines national, pleaded guilty to a federal charge over his repeated stabbing of a fellow crew member on a container ship heading from Shanghai to Los Angeles, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced May 2. Monegro was charged with committing an act of violence against a person on a ship that likely endangered the safe navigation of the ship. He could be sentenced to a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Tyler Fuhrken, a resident of Corpus Christi, Texas, pleaded guilty to using over $320,000 from the Port of Corpus Christi to buy Apple computers for personal use while working as the port's information technology director, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas announced. From May 2016 to February 2021, Fuhrken approved the purchases of 162 Apple computers. However, he didn't record the purchases in the port's asset control system, the U.S. Attorney's Office said. Fuhrken bought the computers, then shipped them to a resale shop located in New York. Authorities discovered this via a series of PayPal deposits into Fuhrken's bank account. Fuhrken faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine when sentencing commences July 27.
A federal judge ordered six companies in Southern California to pay $1.83 billion for their role in a scheme to skirt $1.8 billion in antidumping and countervailing duties on aluminum, disguised as "pallets," exported to the U.S., the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California announced. Two aluminum companies and four warehousing businesses, all related to each other, were sentenced to five years' probation and ordered to pay $1.83 billion in restitution. The companies were convicted last year (see 2108240013).