Recent DOJ Trade Fraud Task Force enforcement action focuses on combating illegal import and duty evasion schemes

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced that Boise Cascade Company, a publicly traded wood products manufacturer and building materials distributor, pled guilty to a felony violation of the Lacey Act (18 U.S.C. § 42) in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida. The Lacey Act is a federal statute banning the import, export, transport, sale, or purchase of fish, wildlife, and plants and timber products that are unlawfully trafficked. The company was sentenced to pay a $6,382,000 fine – representing twice the gross profits derived from the illegally imported wood at issue – and to implement a trade controls compliance plan under five years of corporate probation.

The case underscores the DOJ’s intensifying focus on criminal trade fraud and duty evasion, as well as potential liability for domestic purchasers who are willfully blind to illegal import schemes perpetrated by their trading partners.

Below, we summarize the case and provide key takeaways for companies.

Case summary

Boise Cascade operated a timber distribution center in Pompano Beach, Florida. Between November 2017 and February 2021, the company purchased more than $30 million worth of hardwood plywood from Horizon Plywood (Horizon), a Florida-based import company. The principals of Horizon pled guilty in October 2023 to conspiracy, Lacey Act, and smuggling violations based on their importation of hardwood plywood – particularly birch plywood from China. Horizon falsely declared the imported merchandise as being manufactured in other countries or misidentified the wood species to evade duties exceeding 200 percent imposed on Chinese plywood imports. Another Horizon employee also pled guilty to making a false statement in a customs declaration related to the scheme. Boise Cascade is the third federal criminal enforcement action arising from this large-scale duty evasion scheme.

At all relevant times, the US imposed substantial anti-dumping and countervailing duties (AD/CVD) on hardwood plywood originating from China. Specifically, countervailing duties of 22.98 percent applied from approximately April 2017 through at least April 2021, and anti-dumping duties of 183.36 percent applied for much of the same period.

AD/CVD duties are designed to protect US manufacturers from unfair competition – specifically, from foreign countries dumping or subsidizing goods such that they are sold at artificially low prices in the US. In addition, the Lacey Act – the US’s oldest wildlife protection statute – was amended in 2008 to make it a crime to knowingly import plant products, including plywood, without filing an accurate declaration identifying the genus and species of the wood and the country of harvest.

In the Horizon matter, Horizon illegally imported and smuggled wood and violated the Lacey Act by falsifying import declarations for hardwood and softwood plywood. This resulted in significant loss of revenue for the US government and caused harm to competitors that had complied with US regulations.

The DOJ charged Boise Cascade under both the Lacey Act’s trafficking provisions (16 U.S.C. §§ 3372(a)(1) and 3373(d)(1)(B)) and alleged that the underlying importation violated federal smuggling (18 U.S.C. § 545) and fraudulent import declaration (18 U.S.C. § 542) statutes. Although Boise Cascade was not itself the importer of record, the government’s theory rested on the fact that Boise Cascade knowingly purchased, received, sold, and transported plywood that it knew or should have known was illegally imported. The government established this knowledge based on “actions manifesting willful blindness” and several other categories of evidence including:

• Suspiciously low pricing. Boise Cascade employees acknowledged AD/CVD duties were applicable to hardwood and plywood imports from China and discussed meaningful price differentials between Horizon and its competitors.


• Awareness of transshipment. Boise Cascade was aware that Horizon had previously transshipped product, including moving plywood from China to Malaysia, repackaging it into new containers, and shipping it onward to the US.


• False documentation and species misidentification. Boise Cascade recognized that Horizon was mis-identifying the wood species of a product that resulted in the goods being improperly exempted from AD/CVD.


• Fabricated mill certifications. Horizon sent Boise Cascade an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) certification and registration for plywood from a factory in Malaysia which, when contacted, informed Boise Cascade that it did not produce the purported product. Despite this, Boise Cascade continued purchasing plywood from Horizon.


• Continued purchases after the search warrant. Federal agents executed a search warrant at Horizon’s warehouse on January 5, 2021, which Boise Cascade’s branch employees acknowledged was widely known. Despite knowing Horizon was under federal investigation, Boise Cascade placed at least ten new orders from Horizon in January 2021.

On April 27, 2026, the Court sentenced Boise Cascade to a fine of $6,382,000 – representing twice the gross profits from the illegal plywood – and five years of probation with a special condition requiring implementation of an agreed-upon compliance plan. As part of the plea agreement, Boise Cascade agreed to forfeit all products imported or acquired contrary to the Lacey Act, as well as any equipment used to facilitate the illegal trade, and to forfeit substitute property.

Key takeaways

The Boise Cascade case serves as a practical example of how the Trade Fraud Task Force is approaching cases involving duty evasion and illegal trade schemes. Although the case began prior to the establishment of the Trade Fraud Task Force, it was prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes Section of DOJ’s Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida, with investigative support from Homeland Security Investigations and US Customs and Border Protection. ENRD is a member of DOJ’s Trade Fraud Task Force, a cross-agency enforcement effort involving the Criminal and Civil Divisions’ Fraud Sections, multiple US Attorney’s Offices, and the Department of Homeland Security. Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward Jr. also framed the case in the context of the TIMBER Working Group Roundtable, emphasizing that the DOJ is focused on “thwart[ing] efforts of foreign bad actors who engage in illegal timber mining to finance other illicit and dangerous activities.”

In light of this enforcement action, companies – particularly those with complex supply chains – are encouraged to consider the following key takeaways:

• Downstream purchasers – not only importers – face criminal liability. The Boise Cascade case demonstrates that the DOJ may pursue criminal charges against companies that purchase illegally imported goods, even when the purchaser is not the importer of record. Companies throughout the supply chain must understand that purchasing goods that they know or should know are illegally imported creates direct criminal exposure under both federal smuggling statutes and industry-specific regulations, like the Lacey Act.


• Willful blindness can be treated as actual knowledge. The government did not need to prove that Boise Cascade possessed actual knowledge of the illegal imports. Instead, the government proved knowledge through “actions manifesting willful blindness,” including a pattern of ignoring red flags, declining to investigate suspicious circumstances, and continuing to purchase product despite accumulating evidence of illegality. The government can treat a company’s deliberate decision not to investigate red flags as the legal equivalent of knowledge that is sufficient for a criminal conviction.


• Pricing anomalies may be a critical red flag. Boise Cascade's employees recognized that Horizon's pricing was consistently below what other suppliers could offer, yet they continued to purchase product without performing adequate due diligence. Companies are encouraged to treat below-market pricing from suppliers – particularly for goods subject to significant duties – as a warning that the goods may be illegally sourced or imported and consider conducting heightened due diligence to identify such anomalies.


• Continuing business after learning of a government investigation dramatically increases exposure. Boise Cascade placed at least ten new orders for birch plywood in the two weeks after federal agents executed a search warrant at Horizon's warehouse. Companies should consider developing protocols for immediately suspending transactions with suppliers or counterparties that become the subject of known law enforcement activity.


• Trade fraud enforcement is accelerating. DOJ officials’ public statements in connection with this case signal an increasing focus on trade fraud and duty evasion. The creation of the Trade Fraud Task Force, combined with the TIMBER Working Group and DOJ’s encouragement of whistleblower activity (including through the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act and the Criminal Division’s Corporate Whistleblower Program), suggests that the pipeline of investigations and prosecutions in this area will continue to grow.


• Compliance programs are a sentencing expectation, not just a best practice. As a condition of its corporate probation, Boise Cascade was required to implement a compliance plan. Companies engaged in importing, purchasing, or distributing goods that are subject to duties or trade regulations are encouraged to proactively implement robust compliance programs, including due diligence on supplier sourcing, internal reporting mechanisms, and regular auditing of supply chain integrity, rather than waiting for enforcement action to compel them to do so after violations have been identified.


• The Lacey Act has teeth beyond its environmental context. Although the Lacey Act is historically associated with wildlife and environmental protection, this case illustrates that the statute is being deployed as a potent tool for combating trade fraud and duty evasion in the timber and forest products industry. Companies dealing in plant-based products should not underestimate the Lacey Act’s reach, which extends to any plant product – including plywood and other wood products – that is imported in violation of any underlying US law.

For more information, please contact the authors.