Company’s conviction wraps up scrap yard sting
A South Linden recycling company was fined $50,000 on Monday after pleading guilty to felony charges related to violating scrapmetal purchasing laws.
A to Z Recycling Inc., 1465 E. 17th Avenue, is the last of six central Ohio scrap yards to be convicted after being busted in a 2014 undercover operation conducted by Columbus police and the Franklin County sheriff’s office.
In addition to large amounts of illegally purchased utility wire, a search of the business recovered 56 veterans’ grave markers, including one stolen from the grave of former Franklin County engineer John Circle.
A to Z pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in a pattern of corrupt activity, three counts of violating metalscrapping laws and one count of possessing criminal tools. The corporation admitted to the most serious crimes among the six businesses convicted, and it received the biggest fine.
The sentence, imposed by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Jenifer French, was recommended by prosecuting and defense attorneys as part of a plea agreement.
Lin Wang, an A to Z employee, was placed on probation for three years and fined $1,000 in October after he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of attempted possession of criminal tools. Charges against another employee, Xiaodong Qu, were dismissed as part of the corporation’s plea.
The sting operation was launched in January 2014 to test compliance with a state law enacted in 2012 to address the sale of stolen material to scrap dealers. Undercover detectives made three visits that year to A to Z Recycling, where they sold employees aluminum, copper and largegauged utility wire marked “property of AEP,” Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Gibson said.
The business violated state law by paying cash for the material, not attempting to verify the owner, not withholding payment and purchasing from detectives whose undercover names had been placed on the city’s “do not buy from convicted thieves” list, he said.
A June 2014 search warrant at the business recovered numerous items whose purchase is controlled by the 2012 law, including large bales of wire from utility companies; hundreds of tons of bulkmerchandise containers, such as bread racks and milk crates; and more than 80 beer kegs. Many of the recovered grave markers had been stolen from Union Cemetery on the North Side.
“This was a big learning process for the company,” defense attorney Jonathan Tyack said.
The other businesses convicted in the case:
PSC Metals was fined $10,000 in April after a jury convicted the company of two felony counts of violating metal-scrapping laws. The jury acquitted an employee, Jeremy Webster, of related charges.
G-Cor Automotive was fined $10,000 in February after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of violating metal-scrapping laws. Charges against an employee, Adam Greenblott, were dismissed as part of the plea.
New World Recycling was fined $10,000 in February after pleading guilty to two misdemeanor counts of violating metal-scrapping laws. Charges against an employee, Yujian Wang, were dismissed as part of the plea.
Masser Metals & Recycling was ordered to pay courts costs after pleading guilty in October to one misdemeanor count of violating metal-scrapping laws.
Sims Brothers Recycling was ordered to pay the costs of prosecution and court costs after pleading guilty in September to a misdemeanor count of attempted violation of metal-scrapping laws.
G-Cor and New World both agreed to suspend purchases from individuals for one month as part of their plea deals.