PORT HUENEME : Man Pleads Guilty to Dumping Needles
A man charged with dumping used needles and blood vials behind a Port Hueneme condominium complex has pleaded guilty to transporting and illegally disposing of hazardous waste, authorities said Friday.
Pernell Winbush, 26, of Port Hueneme admitted Tuesday that he dumped the medical waste in a trash bin behind the Villa Seville Condominium complex at Channel Islands Boulevard and Bolker Drive, said Greg Brose, supervising attorney of the conservation and environmental protection division of the district attorney’s office.
Winbush could face up to three years in state prison and a $200,000 fine if on Nov. 6 a judge interprets the crime as a felony violation of the Health and Safety Code, Brose said.
If the judge interprets it as a misdemeanor, the fine remains the same, but the prison sentence would be reduced to two years in Ventura County Jail, he said.
Winbush worked as a courier for Buenaventura Medical Clinic Inc. in March when 80 pounds of infectious waste was found in the condominium trash bins, Sgt. Dennis Fitzgerald of the Port Hueneme Police Department said in May.
A woman searching for aluminum cans found trash bags full of hypodermic needles and more than 100 vials of blood and cultures used to test for diseases, he said. Such waste could spread AIDS and hepatitis, officials said.
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