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Florida Keys couple get prison time for lobster-poaching - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
A major commercial fisherman was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and his wife to seven months, on Friday in an illegal scheme to harvest more than 1,000 spiny lobsters in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
David W. Dreifort and Denise D. Dreifort were among six people indicted last year on a conspiracy charge in one of the largest lobster-poaching cases in the Florida Keys.
The six were arrested in August on opening day of lobster season after federal agents caught all but one suspect returning to the Dreifort's Cudjoe Key home with the spiny lobsters. They illegally harvested the lobsters with hut-like ''casitas'' placed on the ocean floor, and stored them in freezers at the Dreifort's home.
This year, the Dreiforts and three others pleaded guilty, and one defendant, Michael Delph, son of a legendary charter-boat captain, was convicted at trial.
On Friday, a federal judge in Miami sentenced David Dreifort, 41, to the harsher sentence because he was the ringleader, with his wife, 48, receiving a split sentence of seven months in prison and seven months of house arrest.
U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez also ordered the couple to forfeit three vessels and three vehicles. In a parallel civil action, they were ordered to pay $1.1 million toward restoration of the marine sanctuary, including removing 700 casitas. The couple is expected to raise the money by selling their Cudjoe Key home and another property on Little Torch Key.
The use of casitas for harvesting lobster not only dirties the ocean but also has a negative effect on lobster migration and reproduction, experts say.
In the government's probe -- dubbed Operation Freezer Burn -- agents found that David Dreifort was accountable for the whole illegal harvest over two days in August, totaling 1,187 spiny lobsters with a retail market value of $21,662. The daily boat limit is 250.
Dreifort was also held accountable for wrung lobster harvested during the pre-season that was placed in three different freezers at his Cudjoe Key home, according to prosecutor Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.
Florida Keys couple get prison time for lobster-poaching - South Florida Sun-Sentinel.com
A major commercial fisherman was sentenced to 30 months in prison, and his wife to seven months, on Friday in an illegal scheme to harvest more than 1,000 spiny lobsters in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
David W. Dreifort and Denise D. Dreifort were among six people indicted last year on a conspiracy charge in one of the largest lobster-poaching cases in the Florida Keys.
The six were arrested in August on opening day of lobster season after federal agents caught all but one suspect returning to the Dreifort's Cudjoe Key home with the spiny lobsters. They illegally harvested the lobsters with hut-like ''casitas'' placed on the ocean floor, and stored them in freezers at the Dreifort's home.
This year, the Dreiforts and three others pleaded guilty, and one defendant, Michael Delph, son of a legendary charter-boat captain, was convicted at trial.
On Friday, a federal judge in Miami sentenced David Dreifort, 41, to the harsher sentence because he was the ringleader, with his wife, 48, receiving a split sentence of seven months in prison and seven months of house arrest.
U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez also ordered the couple to forfeit three vessels and three vehicles. In a parallel civil action, they were ordered to pay $1.1 million toward restoration of the marine sanctuary, including removing 700 casitas. The couple is expected to raise the money by selling their Cudjoe Key home and another property on Little Torch Key.
The use of casitas for harvesting lobster not only dirties the ocean but also has a negative effect on lobster migration and reproduction, experts say.
In the government's probe -- dubbed Operation Freezer Burn -- agents found that David Dreifort was accountable for the whole illegal harvest over two days in August, totaling 1,187 spiny lobsters with a retail market value of $21,662. The daily boat limit is 250.
Dreifort was also held accountable for wrung lobster harvested during the pre-season that was placed in three different freezers at his Cudjoe Key home, according to prosecutor Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.
