Rochester man sentenced for falsifying documents about gas filters for military

ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A Rochester man was convicted of wire fraud in connection with falsified documents submitted to the U.S. Army.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Reginald Cannon, 55, president of the Rochester-based Burnett Process Inc., in 2015 received a five-year contract from the Army to produce M98 Gas Particulate Filters, which the military uses to protect personnel from chemical, biological, radiological , nuclear and explosives threats — the filters push out potentially toxic substances.

In manufacturing the filters Burnett used much cheaper filter paper from a company located in China that had not been properly tested, had not met the material specifications set forth in the contract, and had not been approved by the Army, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Burnett’s contract had specified it would use suppliers whose work met the specs, had been tested and were approved — and that Cannon submit a report certifying the material was in compliance. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Cannon certified that the filter paper was from one of the approved U.S. suppliers.

“This defendant attempted to cut costs and increase his profits by using products that were not in compliance with the contract entered into by Burnett Process Inc. with the United States Military,” stated U.S. Attorney Trini Ross. “Working with our investigative partners, this deception was uncovered before it caused harm to members of our military and this defendant, along with Burnett Process, have been held accountable for their actions.”