James R. Casey, Blue Crab Scam, Virginia 2020

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. - In a shocking case of seafood deceit, James R. Casey, the owner and President of Casey's Seafood, Inc., was sentenced to nearly four years in prison and fined $15,000 for conspiring to commit Lacey Act violations.

Casey, 74, of Poquoson, Virginia, was found guilty of substituting Atlantic blue crab meat with crab meat from Indonesia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, and Central and South America, then labeling the blended crab meat as 'Product of USA'.

According to court documents, from at least July 2012 through June 2015, Casey knowingly conspired to replace Atlantic blue crab with crab meat from foreign countries. Casey and his co-conspirators falsely labeled at least 397,917 pounds of crab meat, with a retail value in the millions of dollars, as Atlantic blue crab and 'Product of the United States'.

Casey directed his employees to remove foreign crabmeat from the original shipper's packaging containers, blend and combine foreign crab meat from one processor with crab meat from another processor, and place it into different packing containers with a label declaring that the contents were a 'Product of USA,' despite knowing that the contents were imported crab meat.

Casey also directed his employees to place labels with 'Product of the USA' on containers that covered up labels that stated 'Product of Brazil' or 'Product of China.'

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, G. Zachary Terwilliger, and other law enforcement officials made the announcement after sentencing by U.S. District Judge Raymond A. Jackson.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric M. Hurt and Trial Attorney Gary Donner of the Environmental and Natural Resources Division prosecuted the case.

A copy of the press release can be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia website. Related court documents and information can be found on the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 4:18-cr-04.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edva/pr/owner-seafood-company-sentenced-prison-blue-crab-scam