September 17, 2007

The Department of Environmental Quality announced today that a former Macomb County resident has pled no contest to 5 felony counts of attempting to obtain money under false pretenses from more than 33 companies between March 1, 2006 and June 30, 2006.

Anthony Davin Mangiapane admitted to creating and mailing letters of invoices to businesses under the name United States Environmental Protection Waste Agency. The invoices stated that a payment of $5,500 was needed to bring the recipients into compliance with a fictitious environmental statute cited in the letter. The payments were to be mailed to a post office box in Anchorville, Michigan, payable to the USEPWA.

Mangiapane admitted to sending out 100 letters, 33 of which were recovered by the DEQ. No company was found to have made the payment to the USEPWA or Mangiapane.

Under the plea agreement, Mangiapane pled no contest to 5 felony counts of attempted false pretenses with the remaining 28 counts being dismissed. The agreement was accepted by Judge Peter L. Maceroni of the 16th Circuit Court in Mount Clemens, and Mangiapane will be sentenced on October 22. He faces a maximum of 2½ years in prison and an $8,250 fine for each count.

Editor's note: DEQ news releases are available on the department's Internet home page at www.michigan.gov/deq.

"Protecting Michigan's Environment, Ensuring Michigan's Future"

Revised September 17, 2007 by Pat Watson