Department of Justice
Assistant U.S. Attorney's Office
- Southern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 20, 2008

THERAPY-IV CHARTER OPERATION AT HAULOVER INLET LEAD TO FOUR CONVICTIONS
FOR FISHERIES VIOLATIONS

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, Major Mike Edwards, Regional Commander, South Region Bravo, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) announced that STANLEY S. SAFFAN, 57, of Miami Beach, ADAM AUGUSTO , 36, of North Miami , THERAPY CHARTER FISHING YACHT, INC., and DUCHESS CHARTER FISHING YACHT, INC. , entered guilty pleas today in U. S. District Court in Miami in connection with charges of illegally harvesting and landing sailfish, in violation of  Title 16 , United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(2)(A), (a)(4), (c)(1)-(2), and 18 U.S.C. § 2.

According to the allegations of the Indictment, statements in court, and an agreed Statement of Facts signed by the defendants, during the period from October 2003 through May 2005, the individual defendants and the companies operated two charter fishing vessels both named THERAPY-IV from Haulover Inlet in North Miami Beach. STANLEY S. SAFFAN, the owner of record of the two corporations, was also licensed by the U.S. Coast Guard to carry passengers for hire and personally operated one of the THERAPY-IV vessels on charter trips. The Indictment charged that undersized billfish were boated and subsequently landed by the masters and the crew members. The operator of the vessel in each of the charges of conviction failed to comply with State of Florida and federal requirements that the landings be reported to federal authorities. Further, the Indictment alleged that an undisclosed deal existed between the charter operation and a local taxidermy company to pay the crew and the boats’ owners for inducing anglers to sign contracts for mounting the sailfish that were caught.

The guilty pleas were accepted by the Honorable Richard W. Goldberg, United States District Judge, sitting by designation from the U.S. Court of International Trade in New York. Judge Goldberg set sentencing for all the defendants for the afternoon of May 21, 2008, beginning at 1:00 pm. Co-defendants SEAN P. LANG, BRIAN M. SCHICK, and RALPH B. PEGRAM previously entered guilty pleas in the matter and are scheduled to be sentenced on February 29, 2008 beginning at 11:00 am, before the Honorable William J. Zloch, United States District Court Judge at the Federal Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

According to the government and the factual statements, the contracts were secured through false representations to the anglers and/or the omission of material facts, including, among others, concealing the lack of required permits and licenses for the THERAPY vessels to harvest billfish and that illegally undersized billfish were being harvested and landed. Defendants also concealed from the customers that the sailfish need not be killed and landed to secure what were merely replica mounts constructed from artificial materials. The coconspirators also falsely asserted that the taxidermy company needed and would use parts of landed billfish in preparing the mounts for the anglers who paid for the fishing charters. On one of his counts of conviction, STANLEY S. SAFFAN responded to a customer’s phone call seeking to cancel a mounting contract by falsely representing that the sailfish at issue was already at a local taxidermy company and being processed when, in fact, the sailfish were not being sent to the mounting company and were not being used or processed for that purpose.

STANLEY S. SAFFAN entered a plea to two separate Lacey Act violations, while ADAM AUGUSTO and each of the corporations pled guilty to one count. As part of the corporate plea agreement with DUCHESS CHARTER FISHING YACHT, INC. , the company has agreed to recommend the vessel be forfeited to the United States at sentencing. THERAPY CHARTER FISHING YACHT, INC. has agreed to forfeit 125% of the appraised value of the boat to the United States at sentencing. The corporations also each face possible criminal fines of $500,000.

Each Lacey Act charge against the individuals carry possible prison terms of 5 years. In addition, the court may order criminal fines against the individuals of up to $250,000 for each count of conviction, and a term of probation or supervised release of up to three years. Each defendant has also agreed to pay restitution to the victims of the relevant offense conduct, although the precise amount of the restitution remains to be determined.

Mr. Acosta commended the coordinated investigative efforts of the NOAA Office For Enforcement, the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, and the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which brought the matter to a successful conclusion. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.