John H. Cross III, Lake Trout Trafficking, Michigan 2023
A Michigan fish dealer has been sentenced for his role in illegally trafficking lake trout in the state.
John H. Cross III, a fish dealer from Michigan, and his company, John Cross Fisheries Inc., were sentenced on 2023-01-01 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, for violating the Lacey Act by knowingly selling and attempting to sell lake trout in interstate commerce.
Cross and his company had previously pleaded guilty to one misdemeanor count of violating the Lacey Act by knowingly selling and attempting to sell in interstate commerce lake trout, when they should have known the fish was possessed and sold in violation of underlying State law, specifically Mich. Comp. Laws, Sections 324.47333 and 324.47319 which prohibit any person from marketing, possessing, or offering for sale any fish illegally taken from the relevant waters.
Cross was ordered to serve 12 months in prison - intermittently during a five year term of probation - for his role in trafficking lake trout. His company, John Cross Fisheries Inc., was sentenced to five years’ probation. Both defendants were ordered to pay $1,032,132.00 in restitution, jointly and severally, to the National Fish Hatcheries, which stock Lake Michigan with lake trout.
The sentencing follows an investigation into the company's activities between September 2011 and October 2013, during which they repeatedly purchased lake trout from a tribal fisherman who could not lawfully harvest the fish. The company made and submitted false records and accounts of these purchases, stating that the seller was a licensed gillnet fisherman who could legally harvest lake trout.
The sentencing is a significant blow to the company's operations, which had been harming law-abiding competitors and the American taxpayers who fund the stocking of Lake Michigan with trout.
Key Facts
- State: Michigan
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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