Charles R. Jamison, Marine Life Trafficking, Florida 2023
A Florida Keys resident has been sentenced for his role in a conspiracy to illegally traffic juvenile bonnethead sharks.
Charles R. Jamison, 75, of Little Torch Key, Florida, was sentenced to 18 months of probation, a criminal fine of $2,000, and ordered to forfeit his vessel, engine, trailer, tackle, and gear used in the commission of the Lacey Act violations.
Jamison was found guilty of conspiring with others to commit certain offenses against the United States, including conspiracy to transport, sell, receive, acquire, and purchase juvenile bonnethead sharks with a fair market value in excess of $350.00, and attempt to do the same, knowing that said fish were taken, possessed, transported, sold, and intended to be sold in violation of the laws and regulations of the State of Florida.
The charges against Jamison were brought under Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372(a)(2)(A), 3372(a)(4), and 3373(d)(1) and (2), all in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 371.
According to the allegations in the Information filed against him, Jamison was a resident of Monroe County, active for many years in the harvest and sale of bonnethead sharks. However, he did not possess or hold any State of Florida special activities license to collect, harvest, or transport any shark species, nor did he possess and hold a valid federal annual vessel permit for sharks issued pursuant to 50 C.F.R. 635.4 to harvest, collect, or take shark species as required by the laws of the State of Florida.
The Information further alleges that between approximately June 2012 and October 2012, at Monroe County, Jamison and others known to the U.S. Attorney's Office, harvested bonnethead sharks from Florida state waters in the Florida Keys, thereafter negotiating the purchase, sale, transportation, and transfer of the bonnethead sharks in interstate commerce.
This matter was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald and Antonia Barnes. 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.
Key Facts
- State: Florida
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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