Biloxi Restaurant Sold Frozen Fish as Gulf Seafood

Gulfport, MS – In a brazen scheme that deceived local residents and visitors, Mary Mahoney’s Old French House restaurant in Biloxi, Mississippi, and its co-owner, Anthony Charles Cvitanovich, have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to misbrand seafood and wire fraud.

According to court documents, Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, Inc., a corporation founded in 1962, was charged with conspiracy to misbrand seafood and wire fraud in connection with a scheme that began as early as 2002 and continued through November 2019. The corporation admitted to fraudulently selling approximately 58,750 pounds (over 29 tons) of fish, frozen and imported from Africa, India, and South America, as local premium species between December 2013 and November 2019.

Cvitanovich, 55, a co-owner and manager of the restaurant, also pleaded guilty to misbranding of seafood during 2018 and 2019. He admitted to mislabeling approximately 17,190 pounds of fish sold at the restaurant, describing it as premium higher-priced local species, such as snapper and grouper from the Gulf of Mexico, when the fish was actually other species from abroad, including Lake Victoria Perch from Africa, Triple Tail from Suriname, and Unicorn Filefish from India.

Genetic testing by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed the fraudulent scheme. “When people spend their hard-earned dollars to enjoy the incredible local seafood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they should get what they paid for, not frozen fish from overseas,” said U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi.

The FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigations is investigating the case, with Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones and Senior Trial Attorney Jeremy F. Korzenik of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division prosecuting the case. Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, Inc. faces a maximum penalty of five years’ probation and a $500,000 fine, or not more than the greater of twice the gross gain or twice the gross loss, whichever is greater.

Cvitanovich faces a maximum penalty of three years of prison and a $10,000 fine. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, Inc. and Cvitanovich are scheduled to be sentenced on September 12, 2024. The case highlights the serious consequences of mislabeling food and defrauding customers, and serves as a warning to restaurants and seafood suppliers that it is not worth lying to customers about what is on the menu.