Department of Justice
United State Attorney
- Southern District of Florida

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 23, 2007

MIAMI RESIDENT PLEADS GUILTY TO ILLEGALLY HARVESTING AND SELLING MARINE LIFE FROM KEYS SANCTUARY

R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Eddie McKissick, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service; Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA Fisheries Service Office of Law Enforcement - Southeast Division; Commander Dave Score, Superintendent of the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Major Jeff Ardelean, Regional Commander, Special Protection Area, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWCC) announced that Alexandre Alvarenga-Freire, 40, of Miami, Florida, pled guilty yesterday in Miami federal District Court in connection with the illegal harvesting and sale in interstate and foreign commerce of Ricordia florida , an invertebrate corallimorph, in violation of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372 and 3373.

United States District Court Judge Adalberto Jordan accepted the guilty plea and set sentencing in this matter for June 1, 2007 at 9:00 am. Freire faces a possible sentence of five (5) years' imprisonment, a fine of up to $250,000, three (3) years' of supervised release, and an order of restitution. Additionally, a 1969, 34' fiberglass hulled Morgan sailing vessel, “PIPPIN,” which was used in the commission of the offense will be forfeited to the United States.

The corallimorph involved in this matter, Ricordia florida, are prized by aquarists for their varied coloration and their ability to impart a “natural” look to tank displays. Both federal and Florida law closely regulate the harvesting and sale of such marine life. Pursuant to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary and Protection Act and the National Marine Sanctuaries Act, the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration issued regulations in 1997 to govern activities within the sanctuary. Title 15, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 922 prohibits the removal of, injury to, or possession of coral or live rock and further prohibits moving, removing, taking, harvesting, damaging, disturbing, breaking, cutting, or otherwise injuring any living or dead coral or coral formation, or attempting any of these activities without a specific permit. Florida Administrative Code, Section 68B-42.008, prohibits the harvest of live rock and Florida Statue 370.07 requires that a person who sells salt water marine related wildlife such as Ricordia florida, to hold a State wholesale and retail license. Freire held none of the required permits or licenses to engage in these activities.

According to the Information filed in this matter, other court documents, and a statement of facts presented in Court, in November 2006 two German nationals were intercepted at Miami International Airport attempting to export 500 specimens of Ricordia florida , with live rock attached to the polyps, for sale through their business in Dusseldorf, Germany. They admitted to investigators that they had been involved with Freire in harvesting the marine life while aboard his vessel, the “PIPPIN”, east of Cudjoe Key in Monroe County. Their description made clear the activity had occurred in the Sanctuary.

Investigators placed a Global Positioning System tracking device on the boat and monitored its location through January 25, 2007 when Freire was arrested at Cudjoe Key Marina returning from the Sanctuary with a load of 400 specimens of Ricordia florida. The tracking device placed the harvesting location within the Sanctuary, confirming the information from the German nationals. Further confirmation was acquired by having a Immigration and Customs Enforcement aircraft conduct an overflight of the vessel during the three-day harvesting trip prior to Freire's arrest.

The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary (FKNMS) is a 2,800 square nautical mile area that surrounds the entire archipelago of the Florida Keys and includes the productive waters of Florida Bay, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Atlantic Ocean . The FKNMS encompasses coastal and oceanic waters, and the submerged lands thereunder, surrounding the Florida Keys, and extending westward to include the Tortugas islands, but excluding Dry Tortugas National Park. The shoreward boundary of the Sanctuary is the mean high-water mark. Within these waters are spectacular, unique, and nationally significant marine environments, including seagrass meadows, mangrove islands, and extensive coral reefs. The FKNMS supports rich biological communities with extensive conservation, recreational, commercial, ecological, historical, research, educational, and aesthetic values of national significance. These environments also support high levels of biological diversity, which are fragile and easily susceptible to damage from human activities, but possess high value if properly conserved.

According to statements in Court, a team from NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program has evaluated the possibility of restoring the Ricordia seized from Freire at the time of his arrest to its natural habitat, in order to remediate some of the damage caused by his chiseling the polyps and live rock from the seabed. The cost associated with the effort is expected to exceed $78,000.

Mr. Acosta commended the coordinated investigative efforts of the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the NOAA Office For Enforcement, Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, and NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary Program which brought the matter to a successful conclusion. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald and certified Legal Intern Courtney R. Berman.

A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

For more information on regulations in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary: floridakeys.noaa.gov