Tag Archives: Eastern District of New York
Superseding Indictment Charges New York Fisherman with Conspiracy, Fraud and Obstruction
A federal grand jury in the Eastern District of New York unsealed a superseding indictment charging a fisherman with both conspiracy and substantive charges in connection with a scheme to illegally overharvest fluke and black sea bass. Christopher Winkler, 61, of Montauk, was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, to obstruct NOAA through the falsification of fishing logs, and to unlawfully frustrate NOAA’s efforts at regulating federal fisheries. The superseding indictment alleges that between May 2014 and February 2017, Winkler, as captain of the F/V New Age, went on at least 220 fishing trips where he caught fluke or black sea bass in excess of applicable trip limits. >click to read< 16:55
An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Operation One-Way Chandelier – Two members of Gosman family plead guilty in over-quota fish plot
Two members of the Gosman family pleaded guilty on Thursday to one count each of criminal conspiracy for their role, and that of their Montauk company, in an alleged plot to buy over-quota fish from a local trawler captain,,, Bryan and Asa Gosman pleaded guilty to the single conspiracy count,,, A Montauk fisherman also named in the case, Christopher Winkler, has pleaded not guilty. Peter Smith, a Northport attorney for Winkler, said the Montauk trawler-boat captain of the New Age “maintains his innocence.” >click to read< – Gosman’s Market Owners Admit 250K Fish Fraud – The indictments were part of Operation One-Way Chandelier, an ongoing multi-year investigation into fisheries fraud on Long Island being led by NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement. >click to read< 17:47
