Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette has announced that John Custer Woodfill has pleaded guilty to returning more than 10,000 out-of-state nonreturnable beverage containers to Michigan to collect deposit money.
In a news release, Schuette says, “This was not a one-time nickel-and-dime case. This man orchestrated bogus refunds for tens of thousands of nonreturnable beverage containers. In effect, he stole from Michigan’s bottle return program that has long served to protect and promote a healthy environment. His actions also negatively affected distributors, merchants and even consumers who carry much of the burden in making the program work.”
The attorney general’s office says an informant alerted the Michigan State Police to Woodfill’s operation. Police discovered that from April 2012 to April 2015 Woodfill purchased uncrushed nonreturnable cans in Indiana as scrap and immediately began returning them to Michigan for redemption.
The AG’s office adds that Woodfill’s partner in the activity relocated to Brownstown, Indiana, where he operated a beverage can “recycling” outfit, buying locally nonrefundable used beverage cans for 60 cents too 80 cents per pound. Those nonreturnables were transported back to Michigan via trailer, where Woodfill developed a system of return throughout lower Michigan to take advantage of the state’s refund law on deposits.
For some of the out-of-state mismarked cans, Woodfill created phony labels to give the appearance of a proper bar code for the automatic return machines. The labels were then affixed to the containers and returned in can machines for the deposit.
As part of his plea, the van and trailer Woodfill used have been forfeited, and he owes $400,000 in restitution to the state.
He is scheduled to be sentenced May 2, 2017.