New Galilee Farm Operator and Employee Found Guilty of Using Toxic Pesticide to Kill Migratory Birds

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – A federal judge has found two Western Pennsylvania men guilty of three counts  related to the unlawful killing of migratory birds, United States Attorney Eric G. Olshan announced  today.  

Robert Yost, 52, of New Galilee, Pennsylvania, and Jacob Reese, 27, of Enon Valley,  Pennsylvania, were tried before United States District Judge W. Scott Hardy in Pittsburgh in late October 2022.  

The evidence presented at trial established that, in June 2020, Yostas operator of Yost  Farms in Beaver County, Pennsylvania—and one of his employees, Reese, conspired to kill  migratory birds present on leased farmland operated by Yost Farms using carbofuran, a registered  restricted-use pesticide. The Environmental Protection Agency concluded no later than 2009 that  the dietary, worker, and ecological risks for all uses of carbofuran were unacceptable and that all  products containing carbofuran generally caused unreasonable adverse effects on humans and the  environment. As part of the conspiracy, Yost directed Reese to spread whole kernel corn coated in  carbofuran in and around a leased field used for soybean cultivation to which children had access.  The tainted corn attracted protected migratory birds that were killed within a short distance of where  they ingested the corn. Yost and Reese thereafter took steps to conceal their efforts to poison and  kill the migratory birds, including destroying the feed bag containing the carbofuran-laced whole  corn kernel. When confronted by officials from the Pennsylvania Game Commission and  Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture, Reese and Yost also lied about their use of poisoned corn  to kill the birds. In total, Yost and Reese were responsible for killing approximately 17 Canada  geese, 10 red-winged blackbirds, and one mallard duck.  

“Robert Yost and Jacob Reese used corn laced with an extremely toxic, banned pesticide to  poison over two dozen migratory birds,” said U.S. Attorney Olshan. “The defendants’ indiscriminate  criminal conduct also put the safety and health of the farm’s neighbors—including small children  and a man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease—at risk. Protecting wildlife and the people who live  in our communities from the illicit use of dangerous chemicals is, and will remain, a priority of this  office and our dedicated partners in state and local law enforcement.” 

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“The deliberate application of a highly toxic pesticide, whose use is restricted due to the  unreasonable risks to public health and the environment, threatened the health and well-being of the  community and the children who played in the poison area, and resulted in the intentional killing of  numerous migratory birds,” said Allison Landsman, EPA-CID Acting Special Agent in Charge. 

“The conviction of Robert Yost and Jacob Reese demonstrates EPA’s resolve to vigorously, with its  federal and state partners, investigate, prosecute, and hold accountable those who criminally apply  toxic pesticides and target species protected under federal law.” 

Judge Hardy scheduled both sentencing hearings for May 29, 2024, with the defendants each facing a total maximum term of imprisonment of 13 months and a total fine of $31,000. The actual  sentence imposed would be based upon a consideration of statutory sentencing factors and the prior  criminal history, if any, of the defendants.  

Assistant United States Attorney Jacqueline C. Brown and Special Assistant United States  Attorney Perry D. McDaniel are prosecuting this case on behalf of the United States. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service – Office of Law Enforcement, Environmental Protection  Agency – Criminal Investigation Division, and Pennsylvania Game Commission conducted the  investigation that led to the prosecution of Yost and Reese, with assistance from the Pennsylvania  Department of Agriculture.