No prison time for Kentucky man who illegally shipped nuclear waste to landfill
Published 2:10 pm Saturday, September 18, 2021
A judge has opted against prison time for a Kentucky man who pleaded guilty to shipping low-level nuclear waste to a Kentucky landfill without proper labeling.
A federal judge handed down a five-year probation sentence Wednesday for Cory David Hoskins, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
Hoskins pleaded guilty in February to two charges punishable by up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine.
Mail fraud charges related to checks for shipping the waste were dismissed within the plea deal, the newspaper reported.
Hoskins’ company, TENORM, contracted to haul and dispose of oil and gas industry waste in 2015 and 2016, his plea agreement says.
He arranged to ship the waste from West Virginia to the Blue Ridge Landfill in Estill County, which was not rated to handle it, the agreement says.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tashena Fannin wrote in a sentencing memorandum that testing so far hasn’t shown any damage from the waste, the newspaper reported.
Fannin added that “the landfill, the workers who hauled it or worked around it, and the residents of Estill County are left with concerns about whether harm will manifest in the future.”
Hoskins agreed to pay $25,000 to the Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services, court records show.