Behzad Kahoolyzadeh, who also used the names Behzad Cohen and David Cohen, pleaded guilty March 4, 2004, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles to conspiracy on two counts of illegal transportation of hazardous waste and two counts of illegally storing hazardous waste.

Kahoolyzadeh´s Vernon, Calif.-based company, AAD Distribution and Dry Cleaning Services Inc., was one of the largest handlers of dry-cleaning waste in the state. The company handled the carcinogenic compound perchloroethylene.

To hide permit violations, Kahoolyzadeh and his partners shipped drums of PERC waste offsite and stored them in facilities that were not permitted to store hazardous waste. They falsified manifests to conceal the illegal shipments.

Hormoz Pourat, vice president of ADD, previously was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $1.3 million in restitution.