70 year old John Woodfill of Flint will have to pay 400-thousand dollars in restitution and may face jail time after pleading guilty to cashing in more than 10-thousand dollars worth of non-deposit cans from Indiana at stores in Michigan to get the 10-cent deposit.
The office of Attorney General Bill Scuette says Woodfill bought cans at scrap in Indiana and came back to Flint to get the deposits. Schuette’s statement says Woodfill had a partner, who is now dead.
Michigan is the only state with a 10-cent deposit per can or bottle.
“This was not a one-time nickel-and-dime case,” Schuette said in the statement. “This man orchestrated bogus refunds for tens of thousands of non-returnable beverage containers. In effect he stole from Michigan’s bottle return program that has long served to protect and promote a healthy environment. His actions also negatively affected distributors, merchants and even consumers who carry much of the burden in making the program work.”