[Coral-List] USFWS S-E News Release - FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY AND ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGALLY IMPORTING CORAL ROCK INTO THE UNITED STATES

[Susan_White at fws.gov]

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This is a News Release from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Southeast 
Region.  While you can't reply to this message, you can call me at (404) 
679-7291, or send me a separate e-mail to:   tom_mackenzie at fws.gov. 

      Thanks,  Tom MacKenzie, Chief, Media Relations
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NEWS RELEASE: U.S. Department of Justice United States Attorney Southern
District of Florida 99 N.E. 4 Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001
November 7, 2006

                FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY
                   AND ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGALLY IMPORTING
                       CORAL ROCK INTO THE UNITED STATES

         R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern
   District of Florida, Eddie McKissick, Resident Agent in Charge, U.S.
   Fish & Wildlife Service, Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, NOAA
   Fisheries Office of Law Enforcement, Southeast Division, and Jesus
   Torres, Special Agent in Charge, Immigration & Customs Enforcement,
   announced today that Carib Sea, Inc., a Fort Pierce based aquarium
   supply company, and Richard Greenfield, 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty
   and were sentenced in Miami federal District Court in connection with
   the illegal importation of more than 42,000 pounds of protected coral
   rock from Haiti to the United States. Both defendants were charged in
   connection with a shipment that arrived in March 2006, contrary to the
   laws of the United States and an international treaty intended to
   protect threatened and endangered species of wildlife, all in violation
   of the federal Lacey Act, Title 16, United States Code, Sections 3372
   and 3373.

         United States District Court Judge Marcia G. Cooke accepted the
   guilty pleas of the two defendants and proceeded to immediate
   sentencing. Carib Sea, Inc. was sentenced to a three year period of
   court-supervised probation and ordered to make a $25,000 community
   service payment to the South Florida National Park Trust to assist in
   funding and enhancing the existing Coral Nursery Program in Biscayne
   National Park; a program operating to increase scientific understanding
   of coral growth with specific application to restoration and 
enhancement
   of coral reefs degraded by human activity and other causes by culturing
   a supply of hard and soft corals for translocation into damaged sites.

         Richard Greenfield was also placed on three years probation, and
   ordered to pay a criminal fine in the amount of $25,000. Additionally,
   the defendants were held jointly liable for storage and transportation
   costs exceeding $10,000 which related to the March 2006 seizure and
   approximately 40,000 pounds of coral rock found and seized by the
   government at the company’s business location. The coral rock involved
   in this matter, with a market value of approximately $75,000, is being
   transferred to a non-profit research institution, Harbor Branch
   Oceanographic Institute to avoid its being entered into commercial
   commerce. The defendants are also obligated to publish a notice in 
three
   publications related to the aquarium trade, explaining their violation
   of law and the applicable requirements of CITES and U.S. regulations.

         According to the Information filed in this matter and a statement
   of facts presented in Court, in March 2006, the defendants were 
involved
   in the importation of a cargo-container load of coral rock from Haiti.
   Under a convention known as “CITES” - the Convention on International
   Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, more than 150
   countries have banded together to provide protection to a variety of
   species in danger of imminent extinction, or which may become so, if
   trade in their specimens is not carefully regulated. That protection
   extends to all coral rock, which is an invertebrate within the phylum
   coelenterate. To legally import such specimens into the United States,
   the importer must, among other requirements, obtain and present to the
   Fish & Wildlife Service a valid foreign export permit from the country
   of origin, or if the country of origin is not a CITES member, such as
   Haiti, a corresponding document described in U.S. regulations. Neither
   of the defendants, or their Haitian supplier, possessed or presented 
the
   appropriate documentation for the coral in this case at the time of
   importation

         Coral reef destruction has been the subject of intense debate at
   the meetings of the parties to CITES. Loss of reef habitat, which is 
one
   of the most productive and diverse ecosystems, is a world-wide concern.
   As nurseries for marine species of commercial value, as well as a 
source
   of income from recreational fishing and eco-tourists, and a protective
   barrier for coastlines, a significant effort is underway to preserve 
the
   existing reef structures and reverse their decline.

         Mr. Acosta commended the coordinated investigative efforts of the 
U.S.
   Fish & Wildlife Service, the National Marine Fisheries Service, and
   Immigration & Customs Enforcement, which brought the matter to a
   successful conclusion. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant 
United
   States Attorneys Thomas Watts-FitzGerald.

         A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the
   United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at
   www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be
   found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of
   Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.

         Tom R. MacKenzie
   Chief, Media Relations
   U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Southeast Region
   404-679-7291  Fax:404-679-7286  Cell: 678-296-6400
   http://www.fws.gov/southeast



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Susan White
Deputy Refuge Supervisor - Florida
Southeast Regional Office
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
1875 Century Blvd. Suite  420
Atlanta, GA  30345

ph:     404-679-7224
fx:       404-679-4082
cell:   239-209-1976
email:  susan_white at fws.gov
http://www.fws.gov/southeast
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