A 63-year-old owner of several Orange County trucking companies has pleaded guilty to ordering unauthorized repairs that resulted in the death of an employee. He also pleaded guilty to federal tax evasion and COVID-19 relief fraud, according to prosecutors.
Carl Bradley Johansson of Newport Beach entered guilty pleas on all counts on Wednesday in Los Angeles federal court.
Johannson previously ran afoul of federal authorities when a welder employed by one of his companies died in a tanker explosion in 1993.
In all, at least three tanker explosions have occurred in connection with Johansson's companies. In addition to the 1993 blast, two more occurred in 2012 and 2014.
One of Johansson's companies, National Distribution Services, Inc., lacked proper certification to perform in-house welding repairs on its fleet of 37 cargo tankers, prosecutors said. Nevertheless, Johansson and a co-defendant, Enrique Garcia, 46, of Pomona, allegedly ordered two welders to repair a NDS tanker in 2014. That tanker had not been cleared of residual fumes or oil, and consequently exploded the next day, killing one employee and seriously injuring another.
Authorities ordered Johansson to stop using his cargo tankers after a federal agency deemed them unsafe. He allegedly continued to operate the tankers anyway. Prosecutors said he also conspired to interfere with a federal investigation into tanker explosions at his companies and lied about the illegal repair orders.
Prosecutors alleged Johansson rebranded NDS as Wholesale Distribution, Inc. so that he could continue to operate cargo tankers in violation of federal orders.
In order to evade scrutiny over the corporate conversion, Johansson reportedly did not file federal income tax returns from 2012 to 2017, which would have accounted for more than $1 million in revenues.
Prosecutors said he instead used the funds to pay for personal expenses, such as renting a home in Corona for $12,000 a month and paying private school tuition for his children.
Johansson allegedly failed to pay a total of nearly $300,000 in federal income taxes.
Last year, while out on bail for the explosion cover-up case, Johansson reportedly received a COVID-19 relief Paycheck Protection Program loan of $436,390. Instead of using the money to pay workers, prosutors said Johansson laid off most of his staff. He then allegedly moved 21 remaining employees between his different companies to give the appearance he kept workers on the payroll.
Prosecutors alleged Johansson repeated this fraud after receiving another PPP loan for $231,527 in March.
Alongside Johansson, three of his companies—Western Distribution, Inc. in addition to NDS and Wholesale Distribution—pleaded guilty to federal crimes. An additional co-defendant and Johansson employee, Donald Cameron Spicer, 69, of Fullerton, pleaded guilty in August to ordering illegal repairs on company tankers and defrauding the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Johansson will return to court in May of next year for sentencing.
Reporting contributed by City News Service.
