ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY, Md. — A Maryland man was sentenced to 45 days in prison and 5 years probation for environmental crimes, after he was charged with dumping more than 250,000 scrap tires at a site in Allegany County.
The announcement from the Maryland attorney general, who detailed how a Hanover man named Michel Osei managed to move that many tires by allegedly defrauding state agencies.
An investigation revealed in 2021 Osei had previously gone to the Allegany County Office of Economic Development to propose a scrap tire recycling facility. He claimed the facility would employ 50 people and had millions of dollars in contracts to have the tires sent overseas for recycling.
The county offered Osei a land-lease along the Potomac River on Westernport Road and on July 19, 2021 Osei began operations. He and his employees would go around various places throughout West Virginia collecting old tires. They collected over 100,000 scrap tires and took them back to the facility located on Westernport.
The problem was, the tires were never collected from the facility and shipped overseas like Osei pitched to the county. In October 2021, inspectors with the Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) conducted a site inspection and documented 10,000 to 15,000 scrap tires at that time.
Inspectors documented that the property had no permits, the tires weren't stored properly, posing fire hazard. Between that first visit through spring of 2022, inspectors with MDE and the Fire Marshal stopped by the site multiple times until Osei just abandoned the site in September 2022.
By that time an estimated 250,000 scrap tires were left behind at the site.
On Oct. 16, 2024, Osei pleaded guilty to 17 environmental crimes. A judge sentenced him to 5 years, suspending all but 45 days, followed by 5 years probation.
