A federal grand jury indicted a Mansfield, Texas, man in December for allegedly submitting false inspection reports in exchange for bribe payments.
Timothy Peppel, 68, was a federal produce inspector with the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service, according to a Dec. 20 news release from the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton. Peppel was responsible for conducting produce inspections and providing inspection reports to companies buying and selling produce, the release said.
Prosecutors say a wholesale produce company, American Fresh Produce, began requesting produce inspections from USDA AMS in 2014 in order to rate their produce, the release said. AFP used the inspection reports to negotiate a price for the produce they purchased from produce brokers, according to the release.
Peppel was one of the inspectors who inspected and graded AFP’s produce and created reports, the release said.
Peppel is accused of having solicited and received weekly bribery payments of $1,000 to $1,500 from the owner of AFP shortly after starting performing inspections of the company’s produce, according to the release. In exchange for the bribery payments, Peppel allegedly agreed to create produce inspection reports that falsely downgraded AFP’s produce, which the company was able to use to negotiate lower prices for the produce they had purchased, according to the release.
Peppel has been charged with one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and receiving bribe by a public officer; five counts of honest services wire fraud; and one count of receiving bribe by a public official. If convicted, he faces up to five years in prison on the count of conspiracy; 20 years in prison on each count of honest services wire fraud; and 15 years in prison on the count of receiving bribe by a public official plus restitution, the release said.
The FBI Dallas Office and USDA Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation, and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marty Basu and Joshua Detzky are prosecuting the case; Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcus Busch assisted in the investigation of the case, the release said.
The release notes that the indictment is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence. A defendant is presumed innocent unless convicted through due process of law.
