Texas Business Owner Sentenced to Jail for False Organic Marketing
Texas Department of Agriculture
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
02-26-2010
CONTACT: Bryan Black
Veronica Obregon
(512) 463-7664
AUSTIN - Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples announced today that a Texas Department of Agriculture inspection has resulted in a prison sentence for Basilio Coronado. The Brownfield company owner was sentenced to 24 months in a federal prison for falsely portraying his company’s produce as organic. The evidence of misrepresentation was discovered during a TDA inspection of Sel-Cor Bean and Pea Inc.
“The message is clear – if you illegally market your products and try to defraud consumers, we will catch you and you’ll pay a high price,” Commissioner Staples said.
“Due to the excellent work of our inspectors and through the coordination with USDA’s enforcement investigation, a company owner who wasn’t complying with national and state organic guidelines will pay the consequences through jail time and restitution. Texas consumers deserve to get what they pay for when they purchase organic products, and we will continue to support USDA’s enforcement efforts by ensuring those companies TDA certifies are providing consumers true organic products.”
Coronado plead guilty to falsely telling state and federal agents he bought and sold organic milo, pinto beans and garbanzo beans, when in fact, the products were not organic. In addition to his federal prison sentence, Coronado must also pay more than $523,000 in restitution and is prohibited from participating in a USDA program for five years.
TDA is accredited by the USDA National Organic Program to conduct inspections and certify organic farms, processors, distributors and retailers of organic food and fiber.
Sel-Cor was certified as an organic distributor in 2003 and is based in Brownfield near Lubbock. TDA revoked its certification as a result of the information gathered by the agency.
People like him should be apprehended. They don’t realize the value of growing things organically and its good effects on people and the environment. For them, it’s just a ‘trend’ and they’re just in for the profit. Few people reliaze that organic gardening is not just a trend, it’s a lifestyle. and a healthy one at that.
cheers,
Nova @ organic home garden
Another reason to abandon the hijacked ‘USDA Certified Organic’ label and just deal with your customers and suppliers one on one. Produce the product that your customer wants rather than what some bureaucratic government agency directed by lawyers decides.
Amen to that, John
But how will consumers know what they’re buying if the can’t see an identifying label on the product? I think it’s better to have the Certified Organic label and then simply start *enforcing* it–as was fortunately done in this case. ‘Certified Organic’ should be clearly defined–perhaps with multiple levels of ‘what is organic’–and it should carry similar weight as the common ‘Ingredients’ labels. As a consumer, I want to know what I’m buying. I’m sure grocery stores and other businesses feel the same way when dealing with their suppliers.