MD Legal Briefs: February 28, 2005

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Feb 28, 2005 by Staff

EPA cites Rhee Bros.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week it cited Rhee Bros Inc., of Columbia, one of the largest Asian food wholesalers and retailers in North America, for violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act at its wholesale facility in Columbia. According to EPA's complaint, Rhee Bros. imported and marketed a Korean-made product called JOMYAK (naphthalene) OXY without the FIFRA-required EPA pesticide registration. EPA said a state agriculture department inspection discovered more than 450 sales of the unregistered pesticide from January 2000 through July 2003. FIFRA provides a statutory maximum penalty of $5,500 per violation; EPA said it will propose a penalty after the company has had the opportunity to answer the complaint.

Identity thief sentenced

A Chinese national accused of running an East Coast identity theft ring pled guilty to three felony counts Wednesday and was sentenced to three years imprisonment. Jian Ping Wang, 39, of Frederick, will be deported after serving his sentence, Frederick County State's Attorney Scott Rolle said. Wang pleaded guilty in Frederick County Circuit Court to felony ID theft and felony theft over $500 in one case, and to possession of equipment to create counterfeit credit cards in another case, Rolle said. The combined charges carried maximum penalties totaling 35 years in prison and $6,500 in fines.

Murderer gets 50 years

A 22-year-old Baltimore man pled guilty on Thursday to charges of second-degree murder and using a handgun to commit a violent crime, moments before jury selection was to begin, the Baltimore City state's attorney's office said. Darren Johnson was sentenced to 50 years in prison by Circuit Court Judge Kaye Allison. Prosecutors said Johnson and Calvin McCrea, 20, of Baltimore, killed Robert Jenkins Jr. on April 4, 2004, on the West Baltimore street where McCrea lived, after Jenkins attempted to intervene in a dispute between McCrea and an unidentified woman. McCrea earlier had pled guilty to two counts of first-degree assault, and was sentenced to 15 years in prison, with all but six years suspended.