Tag Archives: U.S. Attorney
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
Drunken assault at sea leads to a federal prison sentence for a Winchester Bay man
39-year old Brandon Vanderploeg was sentenced Thursday to 18 months behind bars and two year of supervised patrol for assaulting his then-girlfriend about a fishing vessel in August of 2018. According to court documents, on August 16, 2018, members of the U.S. Coast Guard were dispatched to a situation at sea involving the report of a woman who had been assaulted by her boyfriend onboard a commercial fishing vessel. >click to read< 07:39
Tybee shrimper sentenced to more than six years in federal prison
A Tybee Island shrimper and fisherman has been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for making fraudulent claims for losses from foreign competition, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office for the Southern District of Georgia. Michael Brian Anderson was convicted by a federal jury on March 22 for three counts of false statements, four counts of mail fraud, and two counts of money laundering. U.S. District Senior Judge William T. Moore Jr. imposed sentence imposed sentence Aug. 30, ordering Anderson to 77 months in prison and $818,234 in restitution. >click to read<11:24
Harvesters charged with killing Stellar sea lions
A commercial fisherman and his deckhand have been charged with harassing and killing 15 Steller sea lions found dead during the opening of the 2015 Copper River salmon fishery. Jon Nichols, 31, of Cordova, captain of the F/V Iron Hide, and deckhand Theodore “Teddy” Turgeon, 21, of Wasilla, are charged with harassing and killing the Steller sea lions with shotguns and then making false statements and obstructing the government’s investigation into their criminal activities, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Anchorage said April 19. >click to read<09:14
The Illegal Black Market – Abalone haul costs man $500,000
A Chula Vista man who owns a seafood company was fined $15,000 Dec. 18 and ordered to forfeit $500,000 in proceeds stemming from his illegally importing abalone from Mexico without specifying from where it came. Yon Pon Wong, 65, the owner of the Lucky Company, pleaded guilty to false labeling in the U.S. in which he sold 148,500 pounds of abalone and falsely stated where he obtained it. click here to read the story 17:46
Ex-National Fish president pleads guilty to tax fraud
The former president of East Gloucester-based National Fish pleaded guilty to seven counts of tax evasion on Friday as part of a deal with federal prosecutors that removed more serious conspiracy charges involving at least one other National Fish executive. Jack A. Ventola of Ipswich changed his plea to guilty last Tuesday and now faces up to three years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of at least $250,000 for each of the seven counts. Ventola also was ordered to make restitution of $1.07 million to the IRS. click here to read the story 13:53
