SPRINGFIELD — The owner of a southwest Missouri company pleads guilty to federal charges of illegally distributing pesticides.
Tom Smith, owner of Greenleaf LLC in rural Neosho, agreed at a hearing Wednesday to pay a $200,000 fine, the maximum allowed under the law. Prosecutors said Greenleaf distributed more than 2 million pounds of pesticides and rodenticides with altered or removed labels.
U.S. Attorney John Wood in Springfield said Greenleaf was obtaining damaged or returned bags of the products from a Wal-Mart distribution center in Arkansas. Prosecutors also said Wal-Mart paid more than $2.5 million for an environmental cleanup of the Greenleaf site.
Wood's office said Greenleaf was dumping the damaged or returned insecticides into large bins, and selling them primarily to area farmers.