SALT LAKE CITY — More criminal charges were filed Wednesday against a Bountiful pest-control company already under federal indictment in connection with the deaths of two young Layton girls.
Bugman Pest and Lawn Inc. and co-owner Raymond Wilson Jr. were charged in U.S. District Court with five misdemeanor counts of unlawful use of a registered pesticide.
The indictment alleges Wilson applied Fumitoxin pellets at homes in Salt Lake City, Park City and Sandy in August 2009 in a manner inconsistent with its labeling, specifically that the rat poison was applied into a burrow system within 15 feet of an occupied building.
Wilson Jr., 21, who, along with his father Raymond Wilson Sr., owns the company, is scheduled to make an initial court appearance May 17.
The new charges are separate from those filed against Bugman and former employee Coleman Nocks after the deaths of Rebecca Kay Toone, 4, and Rachel Ana Toone, in February 2010. Nocks allegedly spread the poison too close to the girls' home to remove voles, a species of small rodents.
Nocks, a Bugman exterminator, and the company were charged in February with three counts of unlawful use of a registered pesticide stemming from the deaths and two other instances where investigators say Fumitoxin pellets were applied around homes inconsistent with product labeling. Nocks and Wilson Sr. pleaded not guilty and a trial is scheduled for October.
Nocks also was initially charged in 2nd District Court with two counts of negligent homicide, a class A misdemeanor. Those charges was dropped when the federal indictment was filed.
Negligent homicide has a similar penalty to the federal charges, which carry one year in prison and a fine of $100,000 per count. The company faces a fine of $200,000 per count, which based on eight counts could total $1.6 million, if convicted.
Last month, the parents of the two Layton girls, Nathan and Brenda Toone, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in 2nd District Court against Bugman, the Wilsons, Nocks and five others associated with the company.
E-mail: romboy@desnews.com
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Dennis Romboy is a reporter for Deseret News where for the past 20 years he has covered a variety of beats including state and local government, human services and the 2002 Olympics. He spent six years as a special more ..
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It's a good thing there were no other deaths. Sounds like too much complacency. You'd think they'd double check the directions every time they used any pesticides, since they are deadly chemicals.
Sarah B:
I see this as criminal negligence, not complacency. To legally operate this business and to legally apply pesticides these people had to take qualifying classes and pass qualification exams.
They knew the dangers and ignored them.
@Evets
I wholeheartedly agree this is criminal conduct. Complacency is what got them in trouble. They had a legal and moral obligation to make sure they were using these deadly substances properly. I personally hope they get the max. More..