Prosecutor drops charges against OmniSource

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The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office announced Wednesday that it has dropped all criminal charges and pending litigation against OmniSource Corp., one of the state’s largest metal recyclers.

Charges stemmed from a February 2009 raid by the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Indiana State Police, which collected evidence and seized about $300,000.

The raids were the culmination of a year-long undercover investigation into allegations that OmniSource participated in racketeering and received stolen property.

A Marion County grand jury returned a 16-page indictment against OmniSource in October 2010, charging the company with three counts of corrupt business influence and five counts of attempted receipt of stolen property. The indictment detailed dozens of allegations, including charges OmniSource bought stolen cars, car parts, boats, gutters, wiring and other items as scrap metal prices climbed between June 2007 and May 2009.

Former Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi filed the charges against OmniSource, which operates five scrap yards in Indianapolis and a foundry facility in Hendricks County.

But on Wednesday, Brizzi’s successor, Prosecutor Terry Curry, said the evidence doesn’t support the allegations.

The prosecutor’s office will dismiss all pending litigation and return to OmniSource all money seized by criminal investigators.

“There is simply insufficient evidence that OmniSource or its employees knowingly engaged in any unlawful transactions,” Curry said in a prepared statement.

The company employed more than 50 off-duty IMPD officers to provide security and prevent theft. Curry said there is no evidence that IMPD officers who worked part-time for OmniSource were involved in any kind of criminal activity.

Pending approval from the city’s Department of Public Safety, IMPD officers will resume their part-time employment at OmniSource, Curry said.

OmniSource is a subsidiary of publicly traded Fort Wayne-based Steel Dynamics Inc.

“Prosecutor Curry has renewed our faith in the system, and we pledge our full cooperation to help reduce the incidence of stolen metal transactions in Marion County,” President and CEO Mike Millett said in a statement.

Millett said the company has agreed to give the $300,000 that was seized to local law enforcement to help fund training programs.

OmniSource had sued Brizzi last year to recover the seized cash.

 

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