Mushroom Importer Gets Prison for Evading Customs

(Fresh Plaza)

The president of a San Marcos mushroom-importing company has been sentenced to 13 months in prison after pleading guilty to evading customs duties on the mushrooms his firm imported from Japan.

Craig Robert Anderson, president of Golden Gourmet Mushrooms Inc., was also ordered Friday to pay a $6,000 fine and serve a year of home detention after his time in custody. The company was also found guilty and fined $460,000, and must pay restitution of $546,757 to U.S. Customs.

Anderson, 57, a Rancho Santa Fe resident, pleaded guilty in June to using dual invoices to avoid customs duty when his company imported fresh mushrooms from Japan.

Between May 2005 and August 2007, the company submitted invoices for lower prices to customs agents while using a higher price for business transactions, prosecutors said. The company also falsely labeled imported mushrooms as products of the United States, authorities said. Read more here.