Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, Whale Meat Smuggling, California 2010

LOS ANGELES – A federal grand jury has returned a nine-count indictment that charges a now-shuttered Santa Monica sushi restaurant and two men who worked there as chefs with selling meat from Sei whales, which are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

According to the indictment, Typhoon Restaurant, Inc., the parent company of The Hump Restaurant, located at the Santa Monica Airport, along with Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, 48, of Culver City, and Susumu Ueda, 39, of Lawndale, allegedly conspired to import and sell whale meat, specifically meat from Sei whales, which are listed as an endangered species.

The indictment accuses the three defendants of a conspiracy that lasted from 2007 into 2010. Yamamoto and Ueda allegedly ordered the whale meat from Ginichi Ohira, a Japanese national who previously pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally selling a marine mammal product. Once Ohira received the whale meat in the United States, he prepared an invoice that incorrectly described the meat as fatty tuna and delivered the whale meat to The Hump, according to the indictment.

The Hump sold whale sushi to informants posing as customers on three specific occasions in the fall of 2009 and in early 2010. The meat sold as “whale” on two of the occasions was examined by scientists, who tested the DNA of the meat and determined it was Sei whale, and receipts given to the informants who went to The Hump indicated that they had purchased “whale,” according to an affidavit previously filed.

In addition to the conspiracy charge, The Hump is charged with smuggling and Yamamoto is charged with two counts of smuggling. The Hump is also charged with a misdemeanor count of the sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose, and Yamamoto is charged with two misdemeanor counts of sale of a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose.

Yamamoto is additionally charged with obstructing an official proceeding, which includes an allegation that he instructed other sushi chefs at The Hump to lie about the source of the whale meat. Ueda is additionally charged with making a false statement to federal investigators about the source of the whale meat.

If convicted, Yamamoto would face a statutory maximum penalty of 67 years in federal prison, and Ueda would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years. If it is convicted, Typhoon Restaurant, Inc. would face fines totaling $1.2 million.

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