PHILADELPHIA - Frank Menichini, 73, of Newtown Square, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty today to a criminal information charging him with one count of falsifying records with the intent to obstruct an investigation by the United States Department of Transportation (“DOT"). U.S. District Court Judge Gerald J. Pappert scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 3, 2016. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and a $100 special assessment.
During his guilty plea, the defendant admitted that he controlled DVG Packaging, Inc. (“DVG"), which marketed and sold plastic bags that the defendant claimed had been tested and certified to meet a pressure test required by the DOT for transporting certain hazardous substances. The defendant falsified a laboratory test report to make it appear as though the bags were certified, even though he knew that they were not. When inspectors from the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration of the DOT requested papers related to the purported certification of the bags, the defendant provided them with the falsified test report.
The case was investigated by the United States Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elizabeth Abrams.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
