NEWS RELEASE: U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney Southern
District of Florida 99 N.E. 4 Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001
November 7, 2006
FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND 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 & Customs Enforcement,
announced today that Carib Sea, Inc., a Fort Pierce based aquarium
supply company, and Richard Greenfield, 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty
and were sentenced in Miami federal District Court 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; a program operating to increase scientific understanding
of coral growth with specific application to restoration and
enhancement
of coral reefs degraded by human activity and other causes by culturing
a supply of hard and soft corals for translocation into damaged sites.
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 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 being entered into commercial
commerce. 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.
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
U.S.
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.
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.
District of Florida 99 N.E. 4 Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001
November 7, 2006
FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND 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 & Customs Enforcement,
announced today that Carib Sea, Inc., a Fort Pierce based aquarium
supply company, and Richard Greenfield, 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty
and were sentenced in Miami federal District Court 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; a program operating to increase scientific understanding
of coral growth with specific application to restoration and
enhancement
of coral reefs degraded by human activity and other causes by culturing
a supply of hard and soft corals for translocation into damaged sites.
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 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 being entered into commercial
commerce. 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.
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
U.S.
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.
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.
