Small town fisherman harpooned on federal charges for catch that’s legal in other states: lawyer
The 63-year-old captain of a Montauk, New York, fishing trawler has been convicted of federal conspiracy and fraud charges for violating local fishing rules that his lawyers say are outdated, wasteful and wouldn’t be a crime in other states. A federal jury found Christopher Winkler, who owns the 45-foot trawler named New Age that is based on Long Island’s East End, guilty of five counts last week – two each of mail fraud and obstruction of justice and one more for criminal conspiracy for an overfishing plot that racked up nearly $1 million in proceeds. The problem is, according to his defense, if Winkler had caught the fish in neighboring New Jersey, there likely wouldn’t have been a crime at all. Photos, >>click to read<< 07:53
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