Abstract
(Reprinted from Pet Business, August, 1984, Vol. 10, No. 9)
WASHINGTON, D.C. - According to a report from the United States Department of Agriculture, Bert R. Slocum of Miami has agreed to repay the U.S. $290,343 in indemnities paid to him in 1979 as compensation for birds destroyed because of exotic Newcastle disease.
Bert W. Hawkins, administrator of USDA' s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, said in 1981 Slocum was convicted of multiple violations involving the importation and quarantine of birds that introduced exotic Newcastle disease. into his privately-owned quarantine station. Shipments from that station subsequently spread the disease to 32 states and ultimately involved the destruction of some 14,000 pet birds. The cost, APHIS estimates, was $1.8 million.
Hawkins said the USDA took action to force Slocum to repay the indemnity after his conviction in federal court. On June4, 1981,Slocumwasfined$18,000 and sentenced to one year in prison.
Under terms of the consent agreement, Slocum will make a down payment of $10,000 by December 17th. The balance of sum, plus interest, is to be paid in monthly installments of $2,347.83 over a ten year period. The government also has a lien on an airplane owned by Slocum's wife. The plane is valued at $35,000.
Slocum was found guilty of entering his quarantine station after exotic Newcastle disease had been diagnosed in a shipment of imported birds, removing birds from U.S. Customs custody, mixing these with healthy birds at his warehouse and subsequently presenting USDA with a fraudulent claim for $290.443 in indemnities for diseased birds. •