TOLEDO, Ohio — A Lucas County couple was sentenced for illegally transporting and dumping scrap tires in the back yard of an east Toledo residence.
Chad Gatter, 35, and Amanda Wagner, 36, both of Toledo, pleaded guilty to the unclassified felony charges in Lucas County Common Pleas Court and received a nine-month sentence.
The nine-month sentence includes three months at the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio at Stryker and six months at the Lucas County Correctional Treatment Facility in Toledo, according to a press release from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Additionally, the couple will be subject to three years of community control and are required to pay restitution in the amount of $15,630 to the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
The charges stem from an incident in Aug. 2022 when Gatter and Wagner illegally hauled more than 2,000 scrap tires from tire stores around Toledo and dumped them outside a residence on Tracy Road without proper authorization from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency.
Complaints from concerned neighbors alerted the city of Toledo to investigate, which later led to criminal charges against the couple.
Special agents from the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation’s Environmental Enforcement Unit conducted surveillance and obtained video evidence of the illegal tire operation. A picture of the scene is below:
Gatter was also previously charged with misdemeanor dumping in 2020 by the city of Toledo, according to officials.
In Dec. 2023, a third person, Osama Al Awkati, owner of Uncle Sam’s Auto Center in Toledo, was also convicted on misdemeanor charges for his involvement in supplying the scrap tires to Gatter and Wagner.
“These convictions send a clear message that illegal dumping will not be tolerated in our communities,” Yost said. “We will continue to hold accountable those who disregard environmental laws and endanger public health.”
In Sept. 2022, the Ohio EPA conducted a cleanup operation at the residence and removed more than 24 tons of scrap tires before taking them to a licensed facility.
AG Yost recently launched a program called “Shine a Light on Dumpers” to expose illegal open dumping of solid wastes and bring resources to address the problem. For more information on the program, click here.
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