MOBILE, Ala. (WALA) – A Koden seafood business owner pleaded guilty Wednesday to conspiracy to traffic in illegally harvested fish.
Richard Michael Collier Jr., who owns PJ’s Seafood, filed a complaint in federal district court alleging conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act. The Conservation Act of 1900 regulates fish, wildlife, and plants. He acknowledged that the market value of fish sold across state lines from May 2019 to April 2022 was between $250,000 and $550,000.
A judge set Collier’s sentencing for February. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a reduced sentence, but the maximum penalty is five years in prison. Under the plea agreement, Mr. Collier surrendered his Alabama gill net license and agreed not to operate a business involving the sale of seafood, other than oysters.
Collier’s written plea agreement indicates that the conspiracy involved redfish and spotted trout taken in Alabama and Mississippi in violation of those states’ laws.
It is illegal to catch these fish in Alabama, and Mississippi requires commercial fishermen to fill out the Mississippi Travel Card, which helps the state monitor the health of the fishery. Collier admitted that he falsified the information on his travel ticket, including the amount and location of the fish he caught.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Alabama Marine Police personnel conducted surveillance of PJ’s seafood loading area to monitor fish sales. According to the plea agreement, spotted trout and redfish were found hidden in the lot and then sold to Collier, according to court records. Monitoring also showed that some boats were equipped with gillnets, which are prohibited in Alabama for hunting game fish.
Plea agreement documents state that GPS data showed the fishermen were in Mobile Bay on specific days when their travel tickets to Mississippi indicated they were there.
The plea agreement documents thousands of pounds of illegally caught fish that PJ’s Seafood illegally purchased and sold to interstate distributors. These included businesses in Thomasville, Pensacola, and Theodore, Georgia.
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