La Porte man pleads guilty to distributing pesticides purchased in China

LA PORTE COUNTY, Ind. -- A La Porte man has pleaded guilty to violating federal law after buying pesticides in China and using them in apartment buildings he owned, according to the Department of Justice.

Cai Feng Yang, aka Kevin Yang, 41, pleaded guilty on Thursday to three counts of violating the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act.

Yang will be sentenced October 27.

Yang was accused of buying "cockroach killer bait" and "cockroach gum bait" and several other unlabeled bottles of liquid pesticide containing the active ingredient dichlorvos during trips to China in September 2015 and January 2016.

He transported the pesticides in his checked luggage, but did not submit a Notice of Arrival before importing the products to the United States, according to the DOJ.

Once he returned from China, Yang distributed the pesticide to tenants in apartments at 701 Maple Street and 606 Tipton Street, provided the pesticide to his building manager at the Maple Street address and applied the pesticide in apartments himself, according to court records.

This case was investigated by the EPA-Criminal Investigation Division with assistance from the Office of Indiana State Chemist.

Yang was fined $14,625 by the La Porte County Health Department in 2016 for using the pesticide in apartments, according to documents posted by the Office of the Indiana State Chemist.