A Pensacola company has been sentenced after admitting to illegally distributing unregistered pesticide products during the COVID-19 pandemic.
ServisMed, LLC, formerly located on South Palafox Street in Pensacola, pleaded guilty to conspiring to violate the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA). The company sold a chemical agent marketed as effective against COVID-19 without approval from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
According to court records, between March and December 2020, ServisMed distributed the unregistered pesticide to a local law enforcement agency and attempted to export shipments valued at more than $250,000 to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Federal authorities intercepted the exports before they left the country.
As part of its sentence, the company will pay $13,330 in restitution to the local law enforcement agency, a $40,000 fine, forfeit the seized export products, and dissolve as a business.
“This company broke the law by exploiting the COVID-19 pandemic to enrich itself through the deceptive distribution of a chemical agent that had not been registered or approved for use on humans,” said U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin of the Northern District of Florida. “This conviction and sentence holds this company accountable for its corporate criminal conduct and should serve as a deterrent against future criminal schemes that endanger our community.”
EPA Assistant Special Agent in Charge Kristopher Martel said the case demonstrates that corporations will be held responsible for putting the public at risk. “The defendant in this case sold unregistered pesticides in the midst of a global pandemic and sought to profit from people’s fears of contracting the coronavirus,” Martel said.
The investigation was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security Office of Export Enforcement, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David L. Goldberg and Justin M. Keen.
