Guilty verdict returned in hazardous dumping

Kim Smith

Thursday, Dec. 13, 2001 | 8:29 a.m.

A Las Vegas man who originally faced 29 felony charges for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act was instead found guilty Wednesday of five misdemeanor charges.

A federal jury found that Gene Moran, the former owner of Silver State Plating, should have known that his employees were discharging hazardous substances into the sewer system, Federal Public Defender Franny Forsman said.

The substances -- lead, copper, chromium, nickel and zinc -- make it more difficult for waste water to be pre-treated, Forsman said. There was no evidence presented at trial that the amounts dumped were more than trace amounts, she said.

The jury also found Moran's brother, John, not guilty on the lone conspiracy charge he faced.

As a result of the jury's decision, Gene Moran faces a maximum prison sentence of one year on each of the five charges, Forsman said. Since he doesn't have a criminal record, she said, he could receive probation.

"This case should always have been a civil or a regulatory case, and I think that's what the jury was saying by its verdict," Forsman said.

Prior to the case going to trial, U.S. District Judge Philip Pro had already dismissed 22 charges, Forsman said.

Richard Poole, a prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. alleged that the Moran brothers, who are not related to former Sheriff John Moran or attorney John Moran Jr., knowingly dumped great amounts of the tainted water because they didn't want to spend the money to install a waste-water treatment system.

Poole alleged that in addition to dumping the tainted water into the toilet at their shop, they washed it into an alley and street nearby. The water then ran into local storm drains that flow into the Las Vegas Wash and ultimately into Lake Mead.

The company, which was located at 4246 Bertsos Drive, plated metal parts with metal coatings.

One of the government's key witnesses was former employee John Gold, who was indicted in September 1999 along with the Moran brothers. Gold testified he witnessed a lot of the dumping and was told to take the tainted water into the desert on occasion.

Gold struck a deal with prosecutors and is awaiting sentencing in the case.

Gene Moran is scheduled to be sentenced March 15.