Tag Archives: plead guilty
Hammond crab fisherman serving jail time for illegal pots
A North Coast man recently found guilty following a 2007 commercial crab enforcement operation off the Oregon Coast began serving his sentence last week in Tillamook County. Dennis Sturgell, 56, of Hammond was lodged in Tillamook County Jail to serve a 30-day sentence after he pleaded guilty in Tillamook County Circuit Court Feb. 6 to two counts of unlawful use of commercial crab pots. Tillamook County Circuit Court Judge Rick Roll handed down a sentence of 30 days and $41,200 in restitution to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife Commercial Fish Fund. The conviction was the result of a 2007 case when the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Oregon State Police Fish and Wildlife Division conducted a joint enforcement operation. That was the first year the state of Oregon introduced a limit on the number of commercial crab pots that any one vessel could fish. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 14:05
Fiercest fisherman roils crabbing world – He has filled boats with crab and fish, and he has kept law enforcement busy. more, >>CLICK TO READ<<
Five Maine fishermen plead guilty in herring scheme
The trial of five fishermen accused of a multi-year scheme to sell unreported Atlantic herring and falsify fishing records ended Monday when the defendants all pleaded guilty to lesser offenses. No sentencing date has been scheduled. The plea agreements call for a maximum sentence of a year in prison, a fine of up to $100,000, and up to one year of supervised release. The defendants, however, may end up with no jail time. Fifty-nine counts against the five defendants were dismissed in exchange to the pleas on lesser charges. The trial began last week in U.S. District Court in Portland and was expected to last nine days. The five defendants who pleaded were Glenn Robbins, 76, of Eliot; Ethan Chase, 46, of Portsmouth, N.H.; Neil Herrick, 48, of Rockland; Stephen Little, 58, of Warren; Jason Parent, 51, of Owls Head; and Western Sea, Inc. more, >>click to reads<< 16:20
From DFO: Routine fishery inspection leads to significant penalties for a North Coast commercial salmon harvester
On July 2, 2021, Garry Dean Stoner was sentenced in Terrace Provincial Court after pleading guilty to 12 counts under the Fisheries Act for violations that occurred between June and September 2017, and in July and August 2018, in waters north of Haida Gwaii. The Honourable Justice Calvin Struyk ordered the commercial salmon harvester to pay $1,200 in court fines, plus $42,800 in penalties,,, Justice Struyk included an additional $44,644 penalty to recover revenue obtained through the sales of the illegally caught Chinook salmon. Mr. Stoner was also prohibited from commercial salmon fishing for 18 months. >click to read< 15:39
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
Cape Coral fishing captain admits illegal grouper, snapper hauls, federal prosecutors say
A Cape Coral fishing boat captain faces possible federal prison time after admitting in federal court Monday that he illegally caught and sold 50,000 pounds of red grouper and red snapper over five years, in defiance of Gulf of Mexico limits. Federal prosecutors said Mark Zywotko lied about the size of his boat’s haul of the grouper and snapper in reports fishing boats must file reporting catches of some popular and protected gulf reef fish. >click to read< 12:40
Boat busted
On May 22, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife posted on their Facebook page that read in part that in September of 2017, their officers made a “significant over-limit bust on the captain of the commercial passenger fishing vessel, Red Rooster, out of San Diego Harbor. “…. the vessel’s captain (Christian Andrew Cates), plead guilty to possession of fish illegally taken outside the state and importation of fish without declaration. He was sentenced to five days of public service work and $40,000 in fines, $37,000 of which has already been paid to the court.” >click to read<12:04
2 Plead Guilty to Sinking 54-Foot Fishing Boat to Collect Insurance
Two men pleaded guilty in San Diego Wednesday to conspiring to destroy their own vessel, a 57-foot boat used for charter sport-fishing trips, in order to fraudulently collect an insurance payout. Christopher Switzer, 39, and Mark Gillette, 37, each face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when they are sentenced March 6 in U.S. District Court. They are required to reimburse the U.S. Coast Guard more than $15,000 for the price of launching a rescue helicopter and other costs. Last Oct. 11, the defendants headed out to sea on their boat, the Commander, from its homeport in Mission Bay and went toward Long Beach. Switzer and Gillette had planned to intentionally sink the Commander and submit a claim to their insurance company, according to Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari D. Fitzwater. The defendants admitted they attempted to sink their boat by destroying plastic PVC piping in the engine room, which caused sea water to flood into the vessel. They also pumped sea water onto the vessel and punctured its bulkhead to let sea water spread faster throughout the boat. Read the full story here 20:08
Cape Breton fishermen plead guilty to fishing closed area off Digby Neck
Kevin and Paul Cormier, father and son from New Waterford, were not in Digby Provincial Court Sept. 18, but their lawyer entered guilty pleas for them on charges of fishing in a closed area, fishing with untagged traps and fishing without the person named in the licence. The federal crown attorney Alex Pink told the court that Fishery Officers on a routine patrol off Digby Neck found a trawl of 20 traps set in Lobster Fishing Area (LFA) 34 on Nov. 15, 2015. The Fishery Officers seized those traps, which were about 900 metres inside LFA 34, which doesn’t open until the end of November. Fisheries officers then watched with binoculars as fishermen on the lobster boat Callie Ray dragged two more trawls, or 40 traps total, from LFA 34 over the line into LFA 35, which was open at the time. Read the story here 17:52
Two plead guilty to Unalaska bunkmate killing
“Petty bunkhouse things” that led to a man’s death in Unalaska three years ago won’t lead to a new trial. Two men have pled guilty to killing their co-worker in an alcohol-fueled late-night conflict at a seafood workers’ dormitory in Unalaska, avoiding a second trial. Read the rest here 08:16
Two watermen plead guilty in striped bass poaching case
Two Tilghman Island watermen pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to illegally taking 185,925 pounds of striped bass from the Chesapeake Bay. Michael D. Hayden, 41, and William J. Lednum, 42, admitted to selling the striped bass for $498,293 through a ring they operated between 2007 and 2011, according to court documents. Read more here 07:24
