The United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announced Thursday that Gerald Lindquist, 56, of Amsterdam, NY, was sentenced in United States District Court in Syracuse, NY by Judge Howard Munson.

In 2002 Lindquist pled guilty to a Clean Air Act and Toxic Substances Control Act conspiracy, Clean Air Act violations, and providing false information to federal law enforcement agents. His sentencing was delayed while he assisted the United States in the prosecution of Alex and Raul Salvagno and AAR Contractor, Inc. The United States advised the Court prior to sentencing that Linquist deserved substantial consideration for that assistance. Judge Munson sentenced Linquist to 30 months in prison, followed by two years in supervised release. He ordered him to undergo drug testing and, if necessary, drug treatment.

The Salvagnos and AAR, their asbestos abatement company, were convicted on March 31, 2004 in federal court of widespread conspiracies involving the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (known as RICO), and the Clean Air Act and the Toxic Substances Control Act, as well as substantive Clean Air Act violations.

The proof during the five-month trial established that the Salvagnos were responsible for in excess of 1,550 illegal asbestos abatement projects and up to 75,000 falsified laboratory results. On December 23, 2004, Alex and Raul Salvagno were sentenced to 25 and 19.8 years in jail, respectively. These sentences were the longest in United States history for a criminal environmental offense. They and AAR were ordered to pay approximately 23 million dollars in restitution to victims.

Asbestos has been determined to cause a lung disease and mesothelioma, a form of cancer that is always fatal. The Environmental Protection Agency has determined that there is no safe level of exposure to asbestos.

The investigation was conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency, the Internal Revenue Service, the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division, the New York State Office of Inspector General, and the New York State Departments of Labor and Health.