FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY
- Thread starter Mike King
- Start date
In a private massage from bobimport with regard to his felony conviction; he persaonlly threatens...
"Yup you found it big deal next time you try to export from Haiti I will be waiting"
Big deal? You are a convicted felon! Convicted of smuggling, I think that is pretty big. The folks at CaribSea that you seem so unhappy with were convicted of a misdemeanor. Not that that is good, but it is certainly not a felony. You lose rights as a felon; rights like purchasing and carrying firearms etc, among other things.
Here is a link for the results of that bobimport case for everyone. Page 38 paragraph 2.
http://www.fws.gov/le/pdffiles/99rept.pdf
"Yup you found it big deal next time you try to export from Haiti I will be waiting"
Big deal? You are a convicted felon! Convicted of smuggling, I think that is pretty big. The folks at CaribSea that you seem so unhappy with were convicted of a misdemeanor. Not that that is good, but it is certainly not a felony. You lose rights as a felon; rights like purchasing and carrying firearms etc, among other things.
Here is a link for the results of that bobimport case for everyone. Page 38 paragraph 2.
http://www.fws.gov/le/pdffiles/99rept.pdf
Funny when Fish and wild life want to know something about the caribbean they call me. Funny how they like me now. And its news to me I spent 6 mo in jail Difference is you are trying to spin so drop the BS about you dug it up. and welcome to the scum bag club next time you try to compete with me selling rock do it legal. The government in Haiti will never give your exporter a permit or permit crushed coral to be shipped from Haiti again. I worked so hard to set up a legal deal and you come around and cowboy it and almost screw it up for everyone But word is in Haiti the government would like to talk to you. Can I buy you a ticket? Oh yes
F&W still considers it an "open case"
F&W still considers it an "open case"
OH and I forgot If you want to buy LEGAL ROCK FROM HAITI LET ME KNOW. No hard feelings and welcome to the busted and feeling dumb club.
You should have asked me before you took the plea deal. I took the 6 mo house arrest no bracelet, no restrictions and no probation. You will get tired of reporting to your P.O you have to tell them if you write a check over $500 fill out spending reports ect permission to travel
Think about how you hurt my business. Your rock was so fresh that the jokers that you were selling it to were sticking it in water and it was coming back in a few days( see posts on containerized rock) You were selling it for $1.00 a lb under the cost of collecting and flying it in. All the wholesalers here know that it is hell to set something up and then have someone like Carib come in and scam the government on both ends and then undercut them.
No you will not be importing from Haiti directly again. Your shipper is finished. The others wont touch you with a 10 ft pole.
I would not worry to much about your business in the US people buy from you as you have a good product. Heck no one buys from me cuz I am a nice guy that's for sure. They do business with me because I have what they want same as you. So own up to it call it a brain fart I still get kidded about the lizards from the feds. Heck I could get a permit to import lizards now but no way!
Oh and nice job on getting it down to a misdemeanor bet that cost you. I went the cheep way 2K for the lawyer LOL but he did get my rights restored last year and boy does he have a BIG fish tank.
So don't worry people will forget and forgive what you have done but own up to it.
You should have asked me before you took the plea deal. I took the 6 mo house arrest no bracelet, no restrictions and no probation. You will get tired of reporting to your P.O you have to tell them if you write a check over $500 fill out spending reports ect permission to travel
Think about how you hurt my business. Your rock was so fresh that the jokers that you were selling it to were sticking it in water and it was coming back in a few days( see posts on containerized rock) You were selling it for $1.00 a lb under the cost of collecting and flying it in. All the wholesalers here know that it is hell to set something up and then have someone like Carib come in and scam the government on both ends and then undercut them.
No you will not be importing from Haiti directly again. Your shipper is finished. The others wont touch you with a 10 ft pole.
I would not worry to much about your business in the US people buy from you as you have a good product. Heck no one buys from me cuz I am a nice guy that's for sure. They do business with me because I have what they want same as you. So own up to it call it a brain fart I still get kidded about the lizards from the feds. Heck I could get a permit to import lizards now but no way!
Oh and nice job on getting it down to a misdemeanor bet that cost you. I went the cheep way 2K for the lawyer LOL but he did get my rights restored last year and boy does he have a BIG fish tank.
So don't worry people will forget and forgive what you have done but own up to it.
All right folks, let's play nice.
13 engrsnapr, I think we are all due an explanation of who you are in this soap opera. Are you a Caribsea employee/owner?
You are brand new to this forum and to come here and make accusations (true or not) without identifying yourself is not appropriate.
Bob can be gruff at times on this forum but I've found him to be very straightforward and he has clearly identified himself and his role in our industry. Will you do the same?
Short of that, feel free to enjoy the forum but stop the accusations.
Obviously, you are free to PM Bob if there's something personal going on between you 2 or your respective companies. -Jim
13 engrsnapr, I think we are all due an explanation of who you are in this soap opera. Are you a Caribsea employee/owner?
You are brand new to this forum and to come here and make accusations (true or not) without identifying yourself is not appropriate.
Bob can be gruff at times on this forum but I've found him to be very straightforward and he has clearly identified himself and his role in our industry. Will you do the same?
Short of that, feel free to enjoy the forum but stop the accusations.
Obviously, you are free to PM Bob if there's something personal going on between you 2 or your respective companies. -Jim
bobimport,
Are you a convicted felon? Did you smuggle the lizards into the US by attempting to deceive USFW?
I have no clue if you did or not. All I am asking is whether what has been posted is true or not. What exactly happened with the whole lizard situation?
Thanks in advance for your reply!
Are you a convicted felon? Did you smuggle the lizards into the US by attempting to deceive USFW?
I have no clue if you did or not. All I am asking is whether what has been posted is true or not. What exactly happened with the whole lizard situation?
Thanks in advance for your reply!
Well this is an *ahem* interesting thread, to say the least.
When I fixed the URL that Bob posted, I got this:
http://carib-sea.com/pages/products/mar ... erock.html
Is the product in question?
That's the only product I found on that page with "almost live" in it - and I've bought this product - I have it on my shelf right now. Nothing "almost live" about it - white calcite-type rock, very dead, in fact and it appears to have been mined terrestrially in my semi-educated opinion.
If it was in question however, that would explain why one of my distributors quit carrying it, and why it's out of stock with another although they've listed it on special this month. These are dry goods only distributors, not livestock distributors.
All the sniping aside, I've found this tread to be most disconcerting, as I've been buying Carib Sea products "with confidence" for a long time now, and had no problem reselling them to my customers. However in light of this, I found myself yesterday, looking at the bags of AragAlive on my shelf and wondering if this flies in the face of my business practices, now that this new information has come to light.
I'd like some clarification, please. If the "Reef Bones" is the questionable
product, I'd like to remove them from my shelf. As to the AragAlive - well I may need to rethink my position on selling that too.
Disappointed.
Jenn
When I fixed the URL that Bob posted, I got this:
http://carib-sea.com/pages/products/mar ... erock.html
Is the product in question?
That's the only product I found on that page with "almost live" in it - and I've bought this product - I have it on my shelf right now. Nothing "almost live" about it - white calcite-type rock, very dead, in fact and it appears to have been mined terrestrially in my semi-educated opinion.
If it was in question however, that would explain why one of my distributors quit carrying it, and why it's out of stock with another although they've listed it on special this month. These are dry goods only distributors, not livestock distributors.
All the sniping aside, I've found this tread to be most disconcerting, as I've been buying Carib Sea products "with confidence" for a long time now, and had no problem reselling them to my customers. However in light of this, I found myself yesterday, looking at the bags of AragAlive on my shelf and wondering if this flies in the face of my business practices, now that this new information has come to light.
I'd like some clarification, please. If the "Reef Bones" is the questionable
product, I'd like to remove them from my shelf. As to the AragAlive - well I may need to rethink my position on selling that too.
Disappointed.
Jenn
I am 100%sure the "reef bones" were not in the ground. Think about it someone took a pick to a hole and extracted a nice shape rock like that?
Nope what you do is send a boat out to collect it pile it on the shore for some time. Let the sun bleach it out. then stuff it in rice sacks. Yes I know for a fact that it was shipped in sacks. Then shut it in a container for a few weeks baking in the sun. Pick it up in Miami truck it to your lot and dump it on the ground. Take a long look at the shape of the rocks and try to figure out how that was extracted from the ground. It would take Indana Jones 30 days with a lab behind him to produce that.
(archeologist )
Look everyone makes mistakes. I would buy there stuff in a sec. Like Rummy said"stuff happenes" :roll:
Nope what you do is send a boat out to collect it pile it on the shore for some time. Let the sun bleach it out. then stuff it in rice sacks. Yes I know for a fact that it was shipped in sacks. Then shut it in a container for a few weeks baking in the sun. Pick it up in Miami truck it to your lot and dump it on the ground. Take a long look at the shape of the rocks and try to figure out how that was extracted from the ground. It would take Indana Jones 30 days with a lab behind him to produce that.
(archeologist )
Look everyone makes mistakes. I would buy there stuff in a sec. Like Rummy said"stuff happenes" :roll:
I purchased the reef bones before. If I remember correctly, almost a ton of it. The stuff I got looked just like liverock only all dried up and chiseled. All sorts of remnants from calcium based critters left behind.
On the other hand, I have gotten rock from haiti before and it didn't look anything like the reef bones product. It reminded me of pavona skeletons.
Who knows and I doubt anyone will give a straight answer.
On the other hand, I have gotten rock from haiti before and it didn't look anything like the reef bones product. It reminded me of pavona skeletons.
Who knows and I doubt anyone will give a straight answer.
I've found that the product varies from box to box. None of the stuff I've received ever looked like that in the picture on the website. Yes, some of it looks chiseled, but if it was harvested terrestrially that would be a possibility too.
I had one box that smelled a bit "fresh" (I figured they had got damp or musty)... which gave me pause for thought, but I've never found remnants of creatures on it or resemble anything "almost live". I've had a few that looked like maze brain skeletons, but again they didn't look or smell "almost live".
Perhaps I'm just too naive or trusting - perhaps I got taken in.
I just assumed that whatever the source, it was proper and legal, and it was a cheaper alternative to live rock.
I would like to hear an official response on this forum from Carib Sea - from someone who is willing to identify themself.
Jenn
I had one box that smelled a bit "fresh" (I figured they had got damp or musty)... which gave me pause for thought, but I've never found remnants of creatures on it or resemble anything "almost live". I've had a few that looked like maze brain skeletons, but again they didn't look or smell "almost live".
Perhaps I'm just too naive or trusting - perhaps I got taken in.
I just assumed that whatever the source, it was proper and legal, and it was a cheaper alternative to live rock.
I would like to hear an official response on this forum from Carib Sea - from someone who is willing to identify themself.
Jenn
I am sure that Richard or Betsy would come over and chat about this. I've meet both of them several times and they have always been beyond nice to me. I am really shocked that someone in business as long, well estiblished as they are, would do something like this fully knowing what they were doing. I can see harvesting live rock as long as you keep it alive and follow the rules. But to knowingly smuggle in tons of rock, well that would give me a pause as well Jenn.
I think the real questions are the following:
1. Where exactly did the rock come from, land or sea?
Bob gives the best answer thus far.
2. Did Carib Sea know where the rock came from?
a. maybe they meet an "exporter" or someone that knows how to get
rock from Haiti and trusted this person.
b. maybe someone here in FL sold them on the idea and they didn't
look into it enough.
c. maybe they just seem really nice ……
Maybe b and c were represented here on the board by the fellows that didn’t give there identity.
I would like to see a very straight answer from Carib Sea, I am still having trouble believing that they were maliciously trying to under cut all the rules out there. I think we must give them the benefit of the doubt on this until we hear from them directly.
That “pavona” rock is what I think Bob sells as Lace Rock. Really nice stuff, as is the other palmata skeleton rubble I have from him. Best coralline algae you can get is from that part of the world.
I think the real questions are the following:
1. Where exactly did the rock come from, land or sea?
Bob gives the best answer thus far.
2. Did Carib Sea know where the rock came from?
a. maybe they meet an "exporter" or someone that knows how to get
rock from Haiti and trusted this person.
b. maybe someone here in FL sold them on the idea and they didn't
look into it enough.
c. maybe they just seem really nice ……
Maybe b and c were represented here on the board by the fellows that didn’t give there identity.
I would like to see a very straight answer from Carib Sea, I am still having trouble believing that they were maliciously trying to under cut all the rules out there. I think we must give them the benefit of the doubt on this until we hear from them directly.
That “pavona” rock is what I think Bob sells as Lace Rock. Really nice stuff, as is the other palmata skeleton rubble I have from him. Best coralline algae you can get is from that part of the world.
- Location
- Ft. Pierce, FL
Very interesting read. Thank you.
- Location
- Ft. Pierce, FL
Very interesting read. Thank you.
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