Employee of Largest Certifier, CCOF, Implicated
LA FARGE, WIS — After a 15-month investigation by law enforcement in Wisconsin and California into emails and a phone call threatening violence against the nation’s preeminent organic industry watchdog, the Vernon County Sheriff (in Wisconsin) announced they had traced some of the threats back to an employee of California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), the country’s largest USDA-accredited certifier.
Vernon County Sheriff Roy Torgerson began the investigation after OrganicEye, based in La Farge, Wisconsin, received multiple email threats in late 2023 and early 2024. After a subsequent threatening phone call was received within minutes of two menacing emails in February 2024, Sheriff Torgerson established probable cause sufficient to obtain search warrants from the circuit court judge in Vernon County, enabling law enforcement to access phone records through Verizon and Vernon Communications Cooperative. The call was traced to a number in Santa Cruz, California.
Those records led to an employee of Santa Cruz-based CCOF, Gabriel Anthony Autio Ramirez. Sheriff Torgerson’s detective on the case, JoEllen Egge, secured assistance from local law enforcement to pursue the investigation.
Mr. Ramirez effectively “confessed” by virtue of an apology sent to OrganicEye.
“I’ve been doing this work for almost 22 years and have been threatened with civil lawsuits many times by powerful corporate agribusinesses, “said Mark A. Kastel, co-founder and Executive Director of OrganicEye. “But in all this time, this is the very first incident where I, along with my fellow staff members, have been threatened with violence.”
OrganicEye thanked both Sheriff Torgerson and investigator Egge for their long-term commitment to seeking justice and protecting the residents of Vernon County, home to many organic businesses and organizations and thought to possibly have more organic farmers than any other county in the country.
It seems far from a coincidence that these threats came in shortly after OrganicEye filed a formal legal complaint against CCOF alleging illegal conflicts of interest. The certifier, with annual revenues in the range of $25 million per annum, was alleged to be receiving “payola” from some of the giant corporate agribusinesses they certify, including Driscoll’s, Greenway Farms (Cal-Organic/BunnyLuv), and Taylor Farms (Earthbound Farm).
Sheriff Torgerson told the La Crosse Tribune, “It’s likely an extradition request would need to be filed for Ramirez to face charges in Wisconsin.”
Although the final dispensation in the matter has yet to be determined, “We offered to forgo pursuing criminal prosecution in return for an admission and apology from Mr. Rodriguez, a young IT employee at CCOF who does not appear to have a past criminal record,” Kastel added. “Unless the continuing investigation turns up new evidence, we will accept that apology as a resolution to the criminal case.”
However, since the CCOF employee in question was presumably not highly engaged in policy work, Kastel questions how he came to be motivated to target the organization in such a way. OrganicEye is now conferring with its legal team and reviewing its options for further investigation.
“If any inaccurate information or inflammatory language was used to incite the threats communicated by Mr. Rodriguez, we are certainly going to explore holding CCOF responsible,” Kastel affirmed.
CCOF and two other major USDA accredited certifiers, Oregon Tilth and Florida Organic Growers (FOG), have all been accused of alleged illegal conflicts of interest at the same time they are certifying large “organic” livestock factories and/or hydroponic (soilless) industrial greenhouses that many in the organic industry view as being in conflict with organic regulatory requirements.
OrganicEye has since launched a national campaign to convince organic farmers to cut off the revenue stream of “ethically challenged” certifiers, shifting their patronage to the 10 preeminent USDA accredited certifiers that stand with farmers by truly enforcing the spirit and letter of the law.
In a press release issued by his agency, Sheriff Torgerson stated, “Investigations of this nature take time and effort.” He thanked OrganicEye for their patience and also recognized the dedication and diligence of the detective assigned to this case and extended his appreciation for the collaboration of law enforcement agencies in the State of California.
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