The owner of Polar Tech Industries Inc., a company establishing a plant in Reed Industrial Park in Paxinos, is suing the federal government for the right to possess a firearm.
Donald A. Santeler, 56, who pleaded guilty in 2006 to one felony count of tax evasion, filed a complaint for declaratory judgment Sept. 15 against the United States, claiming his Second Amendment right was violated.
According to a complaint filed in U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, a federal statue banning felons from possessing firearms makes no attempt to distinguish between violent or repeat offenders, drug abusers or the mentally ill, along with anyone who may have misused a firearm.
His attorneys, Owens & Laughlin LLC, maintain in the complaint that he has no history of violence or arrests and that his prior conviction was for a non-violent crime.
The complaint cites separate Supreme Court cases which struck down handgun bans in both Washington, D.C. and the City of Chicago.
Santeler was accused by the Internal Revenue Service of failing to claim and pay approximately $188,303 in income taxes due for calendar year 2001, according to a plea agreement filed in U.S. District Court in 2006. The IRS said Santeler fraudulently claimed a $250,000 loss in an "oil and gas working interest" and a loss of $422,511 for Polar Tech Management LLC, a fictitious company and separate from Polar Tech Industries Inc.
As part of his plea, he also acknowledged additional false oil well loss claims of $1,823,904 between 1996 and 2000, along with a false loss claim with Polar Tech Management in 2002 of $389,210.
Total income lost to the IRS was $807,975, according to the plea agreement.
Sentencing was adjusted due to the fact that Santeler had no prior criminal history and he was given the minimum sentence of 18 months in federal prison in July 2006. He was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and a $50,000 fine, along with being required to repay the IRS.
He served just over 14 months at Oxford Camp in Wisconsin. A judge terminated his supervised release early in February 2009, court records show.
Frank Garrigan, Polar Tech attorney, said Santeler paid all back taxes, penalties and interest in full.
Polar Tech Industries Inc. is a manufacturer of temperature-sensitive shipping and storage materials for the food, science and floral industries. It has purchased the property once owned by Fleetwood Enterprises and is preparing to begin manufacturing product next month, with at least 50 jobs to be created.
Vinny Clausi, who worked closely with Polar Tech in bringing the company to Northumberland County, said he was unaware of Santeler's background, but doesn't believe it has any impact on the local project. He said it's none of his business what Santeler's past entails.
"My concern is we have an empty building in Northumberland County and we're going to fill the building up," he said.
Clausi said the company is growing and "doing well," and it's been doing business in the same place in Illinois for 18 years. Also, he noted, Polar Tech "asked for nothing" in deciding to locate in Northumberland County.