Good news! In a March 14th ruling (below), the judge presiding over AC2T v. Purrington dismissed the case with prejudice. The decision came after Jeremy Hirsch, the company’s chairman-of-the-board, emailed the court to say he no longer wanted to pursue the defamation suit against me, citing lack of money. I suspect the real reason is that he and co-founder Chris Bonner didn’t want to comply with several of the judge’s recent orders, such as coming to Pennsylvania to be deposed (for 6 hours, with me in the room) and handing over documents (emails, texts, experimental data) that they really didn’t want anyone to see. And they likely wanted to avoid the trial, too, which would have been a complete disaster. The 2-page ruling is below:
Although this is great news, the judge did not order the company to reimburse me for my legal costs (approximately $90,000), so I’ll need to sue Spartan Mosquito for malicious litigation. And the judge did not order the company to retract any of its allegations against me (for example, that I am a secret employee of a big pharmaceutical company). And I never got my day in court, which after four years I was looking forward to.
But the biggest bummer is that this company is still selling its tubes to the public.
As a reminder, these are the two guys behind the scam: Chris Bonner and Jeremy Hirsch. They both live in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, in large houses with pools.
I never intended to publish more than my original 2019 review, but AC2T’s retaliatory lawsuit against me (#2 on the above list) prevented me from visiting my mom while she was dying and has cost me almost $100,000 in legal fees. I will continue to expose this company until it meets an appropriate fate.
Background
This television clip is a good introduction to the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator and to the company’s frontman, Jeremy Hirsch:
Are you a journalist?
There’s likely a fun story here. Owner of sandwich franchise becomes head of award-winning, $100 million company that sells tubes of sugar water to kill mosquitoes. Inventor says, “We’ve come up with the most economical, easiest, most effective mosquito-control measure pretty much in the world”.
When I point out that device is totally unlikely to work, company lashes out with a SLAPP to bankrupt and silence me. Lawyer in New York then reads my post and uses it as the basis for a $5 million class action suit (but I won’t get a penny). Soon after, separate teams of scientists confirm that, indeed, Spartan Mosquito Eradicators cannot and do not work. Shockingly, the FTC and EPA do absolutely nothing, and even the American Mosquito Control Association cowers in silence, fearful of itself being sued. Only a handful of states have banned sales of the tubes.
And in 2020, Spartan Mosquito even manages to get a version of its tube approved by the EPA, a feat engineered by the lobbying firm behind Brexit. Scientists are horrified. You can now buy the tubes on Amazon, where they’re marketed as a beneficial pest-control insects. Only California sees the scam and bans sales.
Will the FTC ever get involved? Does the EPA know that it’s been snookered?
And how on earth did the tube get registered for sale in the first place, in Mississippi? Answer, political pressure (the Branch Director of the Pesticide Program wrote, “I was told from above to approve“).
If that’s not enough drama for a good read, there’s pornography and NASCAR in the mix (racy, eh?). And I’m guessing that Spartan Mosquito hired a private investigator to pry into my personal life (they posted online comments about my wife). I suspect there is also a lot of delicious information on the company’s failed effort to get a foothold in Africa (all that’s left is an archive of the shell company’s website). There’s even talk of a military discharge file with highly pertinent information. And talk of governors in multiple states intervening on behalf of the company, pressuring pesticide regulators.
In addition to my above posts there’s extensive coverage of Spartan Mosquito on Twitter (99.9% of it from me). E.g., here’s a thread that features Jeremy Hirsch and Chris Bonner (the founders of the company) explaining how the tubes are supposed to work:
Curious how the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator and Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech are supposed to kill mosquitoes? Jeremy Hirsch explains in recent interview that mosquitoes cannot resist the sugar, heat, carbon dioxide, and stagnant water within. Pure gobbledygook. pic.twitter.com/QnhecM2Pl4
There’s also plenty of footage of Spartan Mosquito on YouTube. There used to be more but the company has been deleting it. I can’t say I blame them.
Any article on the topic should definitely reference the ADE 651 saga. I wouldn’t even be surprised if Jeremy Hirsch learned about it when he was in the Army.
Please consider contacting your counterparts in states that have denied registrations to Spartan Mosquito (CA, CT, ID, IN, KS, ME, MT, NE, NM, NY, OK, PA, UT, VA, WA, and DC) and ask for a copy of the letter sent to the company detailing the reason. You can also ask the Region 4 EPA office for the “Letter of Warning” sent to Spartan Mosquito in 2018 that details why the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator does not satisfy the conditions for exemption from registration under Section 25(b) of FIFRA (i.e., the company has falsely claimed it is exempt).
Are you an EPA or FTC enforcement officer?
I would recommend taking a close look at the efficacy data (field trials, case studies, cage experiments, etc.) that the company has been sending to state lead agencies for the Eradicator. Spartan Mosquito is apparently sending data that show a 95% reduction in mosquito populations (to support the claim of 95% efficacy that appears on the box). It would be very interesting, therefore, to know how they managed to get such results. I.e., because salt is not lethal to mosquitoes, the purported 95% reduction must be due to bad experimental design, selective data reporting, or simple fabrication. If it’s the latter (involving lying to the EPA and to state regulators), prison time for some or all AC2T employees is not out of the question.
I’d also recommend scrutinizing the claim on the box (and on instructional brochure inside, and on company’s Facebook page, and on video ads) that mosquitoes will be “drawn” to the tubes. Here’s the issue: Spartan Mosquito admitted to a state regulator (in 2019) that the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator does not emit enough carbon dioxide to attract mosquitoes. Yet the company has continued to make the “draws mosquitoes” claim for years, assuring state regulators that all the claims on the label are true. This seems to be an example of the company, and perhaps its attorneys as well, of knowingly misleading state and federal pesticide authorities. The EPA should also ask the company to provide the CO2 production data for the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech to see whether the same issue is at play (the company claims the tube attracts mosquitoes).
This company’s products would make for a fantastic deep-dive into the proliferation of ineffective mosquito control products in the United States and how some states allow these products on shelves even when it’s pretty darn clear they don’t do a thing. Pills, creams, bracelets, zappers, tubes of sugar water. Spartan Mosquito has taken it to the next level and deserves to be exposed for the hive of charlatans it is.
Here’s one of the company’s commercials for the Spartan Mosquito Pro Tech that you can show and say, “coooool.” True fact: the lobbying firm behind Brexit helped to get that tube approved by EPA. Here’s another heartwarming commercial (for its original tube) that involves a guy slapping his kids. For footage of the frontman I recommend this. Or this. Here’s my YouTube playlist with more options.
Most importantly, Spartan Mosquito owns a rather nice mascot suit and I bet the guy who built it will make one for you. It goes well with attractive models dressed as Spartans, and maybe you could get the whole gang to picket the beautiful Spartan Mosquito production facility in Laurel, Mississippi, for a photo op. For added fun, please give them signs that say, “Release the efficacy data!”, “Please hire a biologist”, and “It’s spelled ENTOMOLOGY no ETYMOLOGY”. I would be entertained.
Are you on Twitter?
I’d be grateful for likes or retweets of the below tweet. It increases the chances that the EPA or FTC will take notice. Thanks.
It’s been exactly two years since I found this taped to my front door — a notification I was being sued for defamation by AC2T, Inc., the Mississippi corporation that manufactures the Spartan Mosquito Eradicator. 🧵 1/n pic.twitter.com/zvQaLMW4Rr
