Fugitive from Utah is sentenced in Florida

A Utah business owner who was indicted in 2007 for dumping toxic chemicals illegally into public sewer systems — and who later fled the state before his trial — has been sentenced to 20 years in jail by a Florida court.

Larkin Baggett was sentenced to 141 months and 84 months, respectively, for an aggravated assault and illegal possession of a firearm for incidents that took place in Florida. He received another 15 months on his sentence because he was on bond in Utah, according to the U.S. attorney for Florida.

Baggett was the owner of Chemical Consultants, operated out of North Salt Lake until September 2007, when he was hit with a six-count indictment for treating hazardous waste without a permit, disposing of hazardous waste without a permit and violating pretreatment standards. The indictment was a result of Baggett's business practice of mixing numerous chemicals and occasionally washing them into public sewer systems when they leaked or were no longer of use to him.

Two months before Baggett was to go to trial, he became a fugitive from justice. Though he was prohibited from carrying firearms, Baggett was found with eight different firearms when he eventually was arrested in Marathon, Fla., in March of this year, police said. In April, he was indicted in Florida for illegal possession of a firearm, three counts of assault on a federal officer and for assault on a person assisting a federal officer, following an incident in which he threatened federal agents with a semi-automatic rifle.

Baggett had been located in Florida by a special agent with the Environmental Protection Agency and aimed the rifle at him and deputies as they were attempting to arrest him. Baggett was seriously injured after he was shot by law enforcement officers.

— Emiley Morgan