Investigations

On April 4, 2017, Fraticelli Trucking Company Inc. (Fraticelli) of Puerto Rico was charged by Information and pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court, San Juan, Puerto Rico, for illegally transporting Cobalt 60, a Class 7 highly radioactive material. Fraticelli is the fourth largest motor carrier in Puerto Rico and one of only two trucking companies involved in the transportation of radioactive material.

 

The criminal information alleges that on March 7, 2014, Fraticelli willfully transported Cobalt 60 between San Juan and Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, via commercial highway without conducting the required pre-trip inspection. Specifically, a Fraticelli employee, Eduardo Fraticelli Alvarado, completed, signed, and submitted Combined Motor Carrier Identification Reports and Hazmat Permit Application Forms to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in 2011, 2013, and 2015, certifying knowledge of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations and Federal Hazardous Materials Regulations.

 

Despite knowledge of the required inspections for transporting radioactive material, Fraticelli willfully transported a Highway Route Controlled Quantity of Cobalt 60 without conducting the required pre-trip inspections on four separate occasions between December 2011 and March 2014.