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Seafood Wholesaler and Owner Plead Guilty to Conspiracy
A St. Mary’s County man and his company have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act in a case involving the illegal harvesting of rockfish.
Robert Lumpkins, owner of Golden Eye Seafood LLC, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to and violating the Lacey Act by falsely recording the amount and weight of striped bass harvested by local fishermen and checked-in through Golden Eye from 2003 to 2007.
According to his plea agreement, Lumpkins was a fish wholesaler doing business from his residence in Piney Point, Maryland, under the name Golden Eye Seafood. He acted as a commercial striped bass check-in station for the state of Maryland.
Lumpkins admitted to falsely recording the amount of striped bass that fishermen harvested and failing to record some of the striped bass that was caught or recording a lower weight of striped bass than was actually caught.
By under-reporting the weight of fish harvested and over-reporting the number of fish taken, the records would make it appear that the fishermen had failed to reach the maximum poundage quota for the year, but had nonetheless run out of tags.
As a result, the state would issue additional tags that could be used by the fishermen, allowing them to catch striped bass above their maximum poundage quota amount.
Lumpkins and Golden Eye shipped the majority of the fish to purchasers in Maryland and in other states.
Golden Eye Seafood faces a maximum fine of $500,000 on each of the three counts to which it pleaded guilty, while Robert Lumpkins faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the four counts to which he pleaded guilty.
U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte has scheduled the sentencing hearing for September 22 and 23, 2009.
Key Facts
- State: Maryland
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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