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PA CHICAGO MAN SENTENCED FOR PESTICIDE MISUSE
Release Date: 12/12/97
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FOR RELEASE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1997
CHICAGO MAN SENTENCED FOR PESTICIDE MISUSE
On Dec. 9, Ruben Brown, an unlicensed pesticide applicator from Bellwood, Ill., who plead guilty to the illegal application of an outdoor pesticide commonly known as “cotton poison” inside homes in the Chicago area, was sentenced to serve two years in federal prison by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago. Brown previously admitted to applying the pesticide methyl parathion inside two homes in the Chicago area in June and July of 1996. Methyl parathion is highly toxic to the nervous system and can be absorbed through the skin. Exposure can result in vomiting, diarrhea, convulsions, and death. It is approved only for outdoor agricultural uses. The case was investigated by EPA’s Criminal Investigation Division and the FBI with the assistance of EPA’s National Enforcement Investigations Center.
R-172 ###
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