ALLEGANY COUNTY, Md. — An Anne Arundel County man has been sentenced for illegally dumping hundreds of thousands of scrap tires in western Maryland.
Michel Osei, 48, of Hanover, had originally told Allegany County's economic development office in 2021 he planned to run a scrap-tire recycling facility, with up to 50 employees, said the state Attorney General's office in a press release today.
He claimed he had contracts to send the recycled tires overseas, and got permission to set up shop in Westernport.
Osei and his employees would go on to collect more than 100,000 scrap tires from around West Virginia and took them to Westernport.
The Attorney General's office said few, if any, tires were ever removed.
Maryland Department of the Environment started investigating the operation in October 2021, when there were about 10,000 to 15,000 scrap tires.
The property had no tires, and the tires were stored outside and uncovered, presenting "a significant fire hazard."
Osei ultimately abandoned the site in September 2022, after being ordered to stop multiple times by state environmental and fire officials.
There were more than 250,000 scrap tires strewn across the property at that site.
Allegany County has since started to clean up the property.
Osei pleaded guilty to environmental crimes on Oct. 15 and was just sentenced to five years in prison (with all but 45 days suspended), five years of probation, and a total of $550,000 in fines - all suspended - to Allegany County and the Maryland Clean Water Fund.
