Five persons were indicted in May 2015 on grand theft and recycling fraud. The trial date for two of them, Belen Gonzales and Gonzalo Rodriguez, both of Piru, has been continued to November 23, 2015.

This week, James Gonzales pleaded no contest to the charges and was sentenced to 14 months in jail, 22 months of supervised release, and $1.3 million restitution. Mendoza pleaded no contest to the felony charges and was sentenced to 10 months in jail, three years probation, and $250,000 restitution to the state.

Suspect Adriana Rodriguez, 26 of Sylmar, remains at large.

In May the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) announced the indictments of the five Californians on grand theft and recycling fraud charges in Kern County. CalRecycle and the California Department of Justice’s Recycling Fraud Team conducted an investigation spanning nearly two years that revealed a complex scheme involving out-of-state used beverage containers, 24 Southern California recycling centers, and $14 million worth of fraudulent California Redemption Value claims.

In September 2013, after a referral from CalRecycle, DOJ Recycling Fraud Team investigators observed Rodriguez Recycling of Los Angeles County importing used beverage containers from Arizona. On April 16, 2014, DOJ Recycling Fraud Team agents traveled to Phoenix and witnessed a semi-truck being loaded with used beverage containers. The semi was followed to a dirt lot in Bakersfield, where the containers were off-loaded into a U-Haul truck and onto a 53-foot trailer. A man later identified as Mario Mendoza of Bakersfield then delivered two loads of containers to Sequoia Resources in Bakersfield. Mendoza was arrested. With assistance from CalRecycle, agents later learned the loads were claimed in the names of S&S Recycling, Ignacio Recycling, and Gonzalez Recycling, operated by James Gonzales of Bakersfield. CalRecycle held and denied payment for approximately $100,000 related to these claims.

Evidence obtained through search warrants showed Sequoia Resources loaned more than $20,000 a week to Gonzalez Recycling with the expectation that Gonzales would bring back enough material to cover the cost within three days. Agents also determined that between November 2013 and April 2014, the center fronted roughly $1 million to Gonzales for the redemption of CRV containers. The investigation ultimately determined that Gonzalo Rodriguez of Piru (Ventura County) organized the fraud scheme and relied on his family to either directly operate or form associations with approximately 18 recycling centers in Southern California. Those centers redeemed an estimated $14 million in fraudulent material from the summer of 2012 to the summer of 2014.

While the DOJ Recycling Fraud Team was investigating Rodriguez, CalRecycle conducted parallel administrative investigations and took actions on multiple recycling centers related to the criminal referral. As a result, CalRecycle terminated the program certifications of 20 recycling centers, four others voluntarily decertified from the program, and CalRecycle denied payment of $245,495 in handling fees.

On March 31, 2015, a Kern County Grand Jury indicted Gonzalo Rodriguez, James Gonzales, Mario Mendoza and family members Belen Gonzales of Piru and Adriana Rodriguez of Sylmar.

Source: calrecycle.ca.gov