Department of Justice
United States Attorney's Office
- South District of Florida
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 8, 2006
CONTACT: |
|
|
Yovanny Lopez
(305) 961-9316 |
FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND ITS PRESIDENT
PLEAD GUILTY AND ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGALLY IMPORTING CORAL
ROCK INTO THE UNITED STATES
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 Office
of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, and Jesus Torres, Special
Agent in Charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, announced
that Carib Sea, Inc . , a Fort Pierce-based aquarium supply company,
and Richard Greenfield , 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty and were
sentenced in federal District Court on November 7, 2006, in connection
with the illegal importation of more than 42,000 pounds of protected
coral rock from Haiti to the United States. Both defendants were
charged in connection with a shipment that arrived in March 2006,
contrary to the laws of the United States and an international
treaty intended to protect threatened and endangered species of
wildlife, all in violation of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16,
United States Code, Sections 3372 and 3373.
United States District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke accepted the
guilty pleas of the two defendants and proceeded to immediate sentencing.
Carib Sea, Inc. was sentenced to a three year period of court-supervised
probation and ordered to make a $25,000 community service payment
to the South Florida National Park Trust to assist in funding and
enhancing the existing Coral Nursery Program in Biscayne National
Park.
Richard Greenfield was also placed on three years probation, and
ordered to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $25,000. Additionally,
the defendants were held jointly liable for storage and transportation
costs exceeding $10,000 which related to the March 2006 seizure
and approximately 40,000 pounds of coral rock found and seized
by the government at the company's business location. The defendants
are also obligated to publish a notice in three publications related
to the aquarium trade, explaining their violation of law and the
applicable requirements of CITES and U.S. regulations.
The coral rock involved in this matter, with a market value of
approximately $75,000, is being transferred to a non-profit research
institution, Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute, to avoid its
use in commerce.
According to the Information filed in this matter and a statement
of facts presented in Court, in March 2006, the defendants were
involved in the importation of a cargo-container load of coral
rock from Haiti . Under a convention known as “CITES,” the Convention
on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora, more than 150 countries have banded together to provide
protection to a variety of species in danger of imminent extinction,
or which may become so, if trade in their specimens is not carefully
regulated. That protection extends to all coral rock, which is
an invertebrate within the phylum coelenterate. To legally import
such specimens into the United States, the importer must, among
other requirements, obtain and present to the Fish & Wildlife
Service a valid foreign export permit from the country of origin,
or if the country of origin is not a CITES member, such as Haiti,
a corresponding document described in U.S. regulations. Neither
of the defendants, or their Haitian supplier, possessed or presented
the appropriate documentation for the coral in this case at the
time of importation.
Coral reef destruction has been the subject of intense debate
at the meetings of the parties to CITES. Loss of reef habitat,
which is one of the most productive and diverse ecosystems, is
a world-wide concern. As nurseries for marine species of commercial
value, as well as a source of income from recreational fishing
and eco-tourists, and a protective barrier for coastlines, a significant
effort is underway to preserve the existing reef structures and
reverse their decline.
Mr. Acosta commended the coordinated investigative efforts of
the Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries
Service, and Immigration & Customs Enforcement, which brought
the matter to a successful conclusion. This case is being prosecuted
by Assistant United States Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.
- 30 -
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 http://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 http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or
on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
|