The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, along with 21 other California District Attorneys, the California Attorney General and the City Attorneys in San Diego and Los Angeles today announced a $7.4 million statewide settlement, including enhanced environmental compliance measures and injunctive terms, with Minnesota-based Target Corporation (Target). The settlement resolves allegations that Target violated state laws and injunctive terms from a 2011 stipulated judgment regarding the company’s handling and disposal of retail hazardous waste. [TWEET THIS]

“This settlement holds Target accountable for this second violation of environmental laws that involve the improper disposal of a long list of hazardous materials,” said District Attorney Summer Stephan. “This case serves as a reminder to corporations of the importance of environmental protection laws that safeguard the public’s health and that violators will be held accountable.” [TWEET THIS]

The current settlement comes as a result of investigations of Target’s conduct alleging that between 2012 and 2016 the company committed violations by improperly disposing hazardous waste into landfills across California and here in San Diego County. The waste included items such as electronics, batteries, aerosol cans, compact fluorescent light bulbs, and medical waste including syringes, over-the-counter and prescribed pharmaceuticals, as well as confidential medical information from its customers.

“We are confident that with these strong injunctive terms and penalties, Target will implement meaningful changes to prevent this from ever happening again,” said Attorney General Becerra. “However, the wise move for all companies is to abide by the law and employ proactive training and processes to help ensure that hazardous waste violations are avoided in the first place.”

This is the second settlement resolving allegations of Target’s hazardous waste compliance violations. In March 2009, the California Department of Justice and several local prosecutors filed a complaint against Target alleging that it violated state statutes and regulations governing the handling and disposal of hazardous waste. As part of the final settlement in 2011, Target agreed to pay $22.5 million for penalties, attorneys’ fees, and funding for supplemental environmental projects, and to comply with injunctive terms. These included annual compliance audits by an independent contractor and terms forbidding Target from disposing or causing the disposal of hazardous waste from any Target facility to any unauthorized location, landfill, or transfer station.

Throughout 2012 and 2014, representatives of district attorneys’ offices along with local regulatory agencies inspected Target’s trash compactors, finding many instances of additional violations. The prosecutors alleged that during that time, Target unlawfully disposed of a total of 2,038 items of hazardous waste, 175 items of confidential medical information of customers, and 94 items of medical waste. After notifying Target of the violations found, the People entered into an agreement with the company to revise the judgement entered as part of the 2011 settlement to resolve the violations detected by the prosecutors’ post-judgement investigation. [TWEET THIS]

The revised final judgement terms approved by the Alameda County Superior Court include:

• $3.2 million in civil penalties;
• $300,000 for funding of Supplemental Environmental Projects undertaken by entities other than Target, including $50,000 to conduct education classes and programs for owners and operators of small businesses located in low income and minority areas in California;
• Additional requirements that Target expend at least $3 million to conduct three annual inspections and audits of 12 facilities, and provide reports to the Attorney General and local prosecutors, and create and implement a customer trash receptacle inspection and management program; and
• $900,000 for attorneys’ fees, and costs of investigation and enforcement.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s office will receive $300,000 in civil penalties and $43,330 in enforcement costs. Joining the DA’s Office in filing this settlement are the Counties of Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Fresno, Humboldt, Kings, Los Angeles, Merced, Monterey, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, Stanislaus, Tulare, Ventura, and Yolo; and the Cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.

The San Diego County District Attorney’s Environmental Protection Unit is part of the DA’s Economic Crimes Division which is responsible for prosecuting a wide variety of wrongdoing, including computer intrusion, identity theft, investment scams, embezzlements, real estate matters, counterfeit goods, environmental crimes and the theft of public assistance funds. The division also acts to protect consumers and businesses by successfully filing numerous civil cases to prohibit unfair business practices within the marketplace. [TWEET THIS]

A jury has convicted Gonzalo Paredes, 62, of 51 felony counts of paying illegal kickbacks to a doctor for patient referrals and fraudulently billing workers’ compensation insurance companies in the California workers’ compensation system. The jury reached their verdict on Thursday, November 29, after a nine-day trial. [TWEET THIS]

This prosecution resulted from Operation Backlash, a large-scale, joint federal and state investigation into multi-million dollar fraud and illegal kickbacks in the state workers’ compensation system. Paredes was the office administrator for Advanced Radiology of Beverly Hills, owned by radiologist Dr. Ronald Grusd. Earlier this year, the U.S. Attorney’s office convicted Grusd on 39 felony fraud counts for paying kickbacks for patient referrals from multiple clinics in San Diego and Imperial counties, resulting in fraudulent bills to insurance companies of over $22 million for medical services. Grusd was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

The scheme in San Diego involved Advanced Radiology paying a local chiropractor money in exchange for the referral of patients. This allowed Advanced Radiology to treat the patients and then bill several million dollars to insurance companies. As the office administrator for Advanced Radiology, Paredes helped negotiate the kickback deals with the chiropractor and facilitated the kickback payments to the chiropractor and those working with him.

“When law enforcement became aware of the scam, we began following the trail of dirty money and it took us in many different directions,” DA Summer Stephan said. “This criminal network bought and sold patients like cattle and they cashed in on the backs of people who trusted them with their health. They conspired to illegally game the system on a level that we’ve not seen before, but the game is over.” [TWEET THIS]

The District Attorney’s Office partnered with the FBI, California Department of Insurance, and U.S. Attorney’s Office in the investigation and prosecution of Paredes.

“Crimes like these contribute to higher insurance premiums for California consumers,” said Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones. “Paredes was part of a conspiracy with providers who built a complex system of paying money to get patients. Thanks to the hard work of investigators at the FBI, Department of Insurance and the San Diego District Attorney’s office he has been brought to justice.”

“When it comes to their health, the American people demand nothing less than honest services from their medical providers,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge John Brown. “Operation Backlash has proven that there are those in our communities who would trade patients for money. Working hand-in-hand with the District Attorney’s Office, the United States Attorney’s Office and the Department of Insurance, the FBI remains committed to bringing those who compromise our medical system with greed and callousness to justice.”

Paredes faces a maximum of 43 years and four months in state prison. His sentencing is set for February 1 in Department 1803 of the San Diego Superior Court downtown. Insurance fraud in California is a $15 billion-a-year problem. It’s the second-largest economic crime in America, exceeded only by tax evasion. The San Diego County District Attorney’s Insurance Fraud Division addresses this problem by dedicating specialists to handle complex insurance fraud prosecutions.   [TWEET THIS]

District Attorney Investigator Anthony Johnson was recognized with the Blue Night Award by the San Diego County Crime Commission for his outstanding work on a cold case homicide.

Every year, the San Diego County Crime Commission recognizes law enforcement officers who have gone above and beyond the call of duty to serve the community.

The DA’s Bureau of Investigation nominated Johnson for his work in an August 2000 homicide cold case, in which 71-year-old victim LeRay Parkins was fatally beaten and left in an alley, with no witnesses to the incident. The case went cold for more than 17 years and was ultimately revived in 2018 by Investigator Johnson, who reviewed the crime scene photos and noticed the pockets of the victim’s shorts were pulled inside out, possibly by the suspect(s) during the robbery and may still hold DNA evidence.  He met with the San Diego Police Department’s Forensic Biology Unit and asked that the shorts be tested for DNA.  The lab subsequently identified a mixture of DNA in four locations on the right front pocket of the victim’s shorts.  The DNA was submitted to CODIS and a hit came back identifying Edward Brooks, who was one of the original suspects identified by SDPD detectives in 2000.  Investigator Johnson conducted further investigation and ultimately wrote arrest warrants for three suspects who were all living outside of California; Edward Brooks, Lester Bell and Terrance Brown.  DAI Johnson coordinated with the U.S. Marshals Service and secured the arrests and extraditions of all three suspects, who were all charged in San Diego with the murder of Mr. Parkins.

Investigator Johnson has been a peace officer for more than 39 years.  He was employed by the San Diego Police Department for 32 years, during which time he served over six years as a homicide detective.  He joined the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office in November 2011 and has been assigned to the DA’s Cold Case Homicide Team for the past four years.

COMMENTARY

By San Diego County District Attorney Summer Stephan:

The latest sex abuse scandal involving Catholic priests and the church’s failure to act is devastating. Hundreds of victims were robbed of their childhoods by individuals in positions of trust and power—covered up by leaders and higher-ups who had a duty to act.

As a Catholic, I share in the faithful’s outrage.

As a mother, I empathize with the victims and families grappling with this betrayal.

And as San Diego County’s District Attorney, I am determined to educate and clearly remind those in a position of trust they have a legal and ethical duty to report suspected abuse.

California law says mandated reporters are required to report to law enforcement if they know or reasonably suspect abuse of a child. It is a misdemeanor crime to fail to report. Even if a charge is not found to be true, reporters are immune from liability for reporting in good faith.

“Mandated reporters” include teachers, instructional aides, or teacher’s aides. Most employees of public or private schools, athletic coaches are all mandated reporters. Clergy and medical professionals are also mandated reporters.

“A reasonable suspicion” is when a person entertains a suspicion, based on facts that could cause a reasonable person, drawing when appropriate, on their training and experience, to suspect abuse or neglect.  It does not require certainty that the abuse or neglect has occurred. Any reasonable suspicion is sufficient.

Recognizing that individuals may not fully understand their legal duty to report suspected abuse, we recently took proactive steps to educate the community. My office, in partnership with the San Diego County Office of Education, has produced a training video reminding school officials and employees about their legal duties as mandated reporters. We’re also in the process of distributing 40,000 laminated cards and other printed materials to all school personnel so they’re aware of their lawful obligation to report abuse.

A society is judged by how we treat our youngest, oldest and most vulnerable.  A mandated report is often the first step to ensure that children are protected and stay safe. We routinely see inexcusable failures by churches, universities, athletic programs and schools to protect children from abuse. The price paid for this failure to act is borne by new victims subjected to the same predators and children suffering in silence.  Through our focus on collaborative training in San Diego’s schools, we want to help mandated reporters succeed in fulfilling their obligations.

Click here to learn more about mandated reporters.

EN ESPAÑOL, aquí.