Tag Archives: sentenced for overfishing

Cape Coral captain gets 60-day jail sentence for overfishing

U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber imposed the sentence Monday on Mark Zywotko, who admitted in court last August that he took and sold more red grouper and red snapper than allowed under federal regulations designed to protect those species from overfishing. Zywotko pleaded guilty to four counts of mail fraud for mailing documents to the National Marine Fisheries Service that intentionally misrepresented the number of fish that were caught. “You have manned up,” Barber said in imposing the prison sentence. “You can’t just pay the money back … you’ll have to spend some time behind bars.” >click to read< 18:53