2 Brothers to Serve Time for Cyanide Dumping

Two brothers who operated a North Hollywood plating company that dumped thousands of gallons of cyanide-laced waste water into the Los Angeles sewer system pleaded guilty Thursday and must serve jail time for recklessly handling and storing hazardous materials.

Yoav (Joe) Pantilant, 52, of Woodland Hills, owner and president of All-American Plating Corp., was sentenced to nine months in jail, fined $10,000 and ordered to clean up the site within six months by Municipal Judge David S. Milton as part of an agreement under which he pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor charges.

His brother, Sarv (Tom) Pantilant, 45, of Saugus, who was general manager of the firm, pleaded guilty to the same two charges and, also under the plea agreement, is scheduled to be sentenced Dec. 15 to six months in jail, Deputy Dist. Atty. William W. Carter said.

The brothers originally faced one felony count and seven misdemeanor counts in the case.

They were the first in the county to be prosecuted under a 10-month-old state law that mandates jail time for improperly storing hazardous materials, Carter said. The new law also allows authorities to take action against a firm before a potentially hazardous chemical spill occurs, he said.