Timothy James Peppel Sr, a 68-year-old Mansfield resident and federal produce inspector with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS), was indicted by a federal grand jury last week. The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton.
Peppel, responsible for conducting produce inspections and providing inspection reports to companies involved in buying and selling produce, allegedly engaged in fraudulent activities. According to prosecutors, American Fresh Produce (AFP), a wholesale produce company, began seeking produce inspections from USDA AMS in 2014 to assess the quality of their produce.
It is alleged that Peppel, one of the inspectors assigned to evaluate AFP's produce, initiated a scheme involving weekly bribery payments ranging from $1,000 to $1,500 from AFP's owner. In return for these payments, Peppel purportedly agreed to create false produce inspection reports that downgraded the quality of AFP's produce. AFP then utilized these inaccurate reports to negotiate lower prices for the produce they purchased.
Peppel faces charges of one count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and receiving a bribe by a public officer, five counts of honest services wire fraud, and one count of receiving a bribe by a public official. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to five years in prison for conspiracy, 20 years for each count of honest services wire fraud, and 15 years for receiving a bribe by a public official, in addition to restitution.
The FBI Dallas Office and the U.S. Department of Agriculture - Office of Inspector General conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marty Basu and Joshua Detzky are prosecuting the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcus Busch assisting in the investigation.