The owner of a portable toilet empire was sentenced to five months in federal prison Wednesday for illegally disposing of sludge throughout Southern California.
Arie Eric De Jong III pleaded guilty last year to felony charges related to his company, Diamond Environmental Services. He was also handed a $15,000 fine for the an unlawful dumping scheme, according to the Union Tribune.
According to prosecutors, the sanitation executives illegally emptied their trucks into municipal sewer systems in San Diego, San Marcos, Fullerton, Perris and Huntington Park instead of disposing of the waste in specially designated facilities and paying the related fees.
The company saved millions of dollars between 2012 and 2016 by avoiding disposal fees paid that are routinely paid by its competitors.
In court papers, federal officials said the De Jong family could afford to pay millions of dollars in fines and penalties. The government said the family controls assets and property worth $39 million.
The company’s chief operating officer received five years’ probation and 250 hours of community service. Another employee was convicted last year on two counts of perjury for lying to a grand jury.
The three defendants combined were ordered to pay a fine of $2.64 million and $2.25 million in restitution to five different sanitation agencies. The company was sentenced to five years probation and also forfeited $2.2 million in illegal profits.
“It was a huge mistake,” De Jong told the court before being sentenced. “I made a mistake I never thought would get to this level.”
