A Hanover, Maryland, man was sentenced Wednesday on 17 environmental crime charges after pleading guilty to dumping over 250,000 tires at a site in the state’s Allegany County.
Michel Osei, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful disposal for gain, eight counts of operating a scrap tire facility without a license and eight counts of improper handling of waste on Oct. 16, according to a release from the office of Maryland Attorney General Anthony Brown.
In 2021, Osei approached the Allegany County Office of Economic Development, claiming he had millions of dollars’ worth of contracts to send disposed-of tires overseas. He was offered a land lease and started disposing tires at a Westernport, Maryland, site that July.
By the time Maryland Department of the Environment inspectors found out about and looked at the site in October 2021, thousands of scrap tires were already being stored there, even though Osei didn’t have a permit. The tires were uncovered and left in large piles, posing a fire hazard, according to the attorney general’s office.
MDE and the Maryland State Office of the Fire Marshal ordered Osei to cease dumping. By the time he stopped in September 2022, over 250,000 had been collected, with at least 100,000 brought over from West Virginia.
Osei was sentenced to five years in prison, with all but 45 days suspended, and five years of probation, plus payment of $250,000 to Allegany County and $300,000 to the Maryland Clean Water Fund. Both payments were also suspended.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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