Redding Man Pleads Guilty to Falsely Certifying More than 570 Oxygen Cylinders for Reuse, Including Reuse in Aircraft

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Danniel A. Hoose, 49, of Redding, pleaded guilty today to one count of falsely certifying more than 570 oxygen cylinders for reuse, including reuse in aircraft, United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

According to court documents, Hoose owned and operated Shasta Fire Equipment Inc. (Shasta) in Redding and held a Department of Transportation (DOT)-issued permit to test oxygen and other gas-containing cylinders and to certify those cylinders for reuse for various purposes, including in aircraft. Acting on an anonymous complaint, investigators discovered that between March 2013 and June 2013, Hoose was personally responsible for performing all cylinder tests at Shasta, even though Hoose’s DOT certification to perform such tests had expired nearly a year earlier. Investigators also found that Shasta’s re-qualification equipment was in disrepair, and that Shasta’s test procedures, test accuracy, and test records failed to satisfy regulatory requirements.

According to documents filed in federal court today, Hoose admitted that he falsely certified more than 570 cylinders for reuse after conducting incomplete or, in some cases, no tests on those cylinders. Hoose also admitted that approximately 58 oxygen cylinders that he improperly tested or did not test were returned to service and installed in aircraft.

All of the cylinders were recovered and re-tested during the investigation.

This case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Department of Transportation, Office of Inspector General. Assistant United States Attorney André M. Espinosa is prosecuting the case.

Hoose is scheduled to appear before U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on September 10, 2015, for sentencing. The maximum statutory penalty for a making and using a materially false writing concerning an aircraft part, which relates to the aviation quality of a part installed in an aircraft, is 15 years in prison. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.