Paul Fredericks was sentenced to six months of home confinement, followed by 30 months of additional probation, on federal charges involving the illegal storage of hazardous waste at the company’s Cuba, MO plant, U.S. Attorney Catherine L. Hanaway announced Thursday.
Additionally, Fredericks was ordered to pay restitution of $9,362.
“This case demonstrates that the EPA and this office take these violations very seriously, and violators will be prosecuted and face penalties,” said Hanaway.
Fredericks is the owner and president of three Usona plants; the Usona anodizing plant in Cuba, the Usona wet paint plant located at 2120 Miami St., St. Louis, and the Usona powder coating plant located on Clinton St., St. Louis.
In April 2007, the Usona powder coating plant  on Clinton St. ceased operations and Fredericks directed the illegal transportation of drums of hazardous waste to the plant in Cuba. Between April 2007 and April 2008, approximately 100 drums of hazardous waste were illegally stored at the Cuba plant.
Fredericks, 45, St. Louis, and his company, Usona Metal Finishing Company, pled guilty last December to one count of violation of the Resource Conservation & Recovery Act (RCRA). He appeared recently for sentencing before U.S. District Judge Henry E. Autrey.
Hanaway commended the work on the case by Region 7 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Criminal Investigation Division, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, the Cuba Police Department, and First Assistant United States Attorney Michael W. Reap and Special Assistant United States Attorney Anne Rauch.