A California man pleaded guilty this week to smuggling greenhouse gases into the U.S. in a first-of-its-kind prosecution under federal law.
Authorities say Michael Hart bought banned hydrofluorocarbons, or HFCs, in Mexico and smuggled them through border crossings. He then sold them online to buyers in the U.S. to be used as coolants for refrigerators and air conditioners.
A federal law that took effect in 2022 strictly regulates HFCs and requires importers to apply with the government for special allowances.
Prosecutors said Hart, 58, is the first person to face charges for illegal gas importation under that law.
“Clean air is not for sale to the highest bidder,” said Tara McGrath, the U.S. attorney in southern California.
HFCs are particularly potent greenhouse gases, which scientists say are contributing to global warming. They are potentially hundreds of times worse, per volume, than carbon dioxide.
An international clampdown has spurred a robust smuggling market.
In Hart’s case, prosecutors said he drove through the San Ysidro border crossing in California in October 2022 with 10 boxes labeled as Freon 404A from China, but failed to disclose them to port officers. Freon 404A contains several regulated HFCs.
Hart told investigators he worked in construction and had been bringing in canisters of Freon every week for several months. He told them he used some for his own business of repairing air conditioners and sold others.
Investigators pored over his phone records and discovered he was offering sales on Facebook Marketplace and OfferUp, would collect orders then go to Mexico to purchase and collect the canisters.
He told customers he could get 15 to 20 tanks a week.
According to messages detailed in court documents, Hart continued to plot to import canisters even after he was caught with them in October 2022.
The case was investigated by the Environmental Protection Agency and Homeland Security Investigations.
Prosecutors said Hart faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a potential $250,000 fine.
The EPA celebrated the plea as a strike against “the existential threat of climate change.”
“Today’s guilty plea for the first-ever HFC arrest demonstrates EPA’s commitment to vigorously enforcing our laws at all U.S. borders and ports to prevent illegal HFC canisters from entering the U.S.,” said Assistant Administrator David M. Uhlmann.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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