FORT PIERCE COMPANY AND ITS PRESIDENT PLEAD GUILTY AND ARE SENTENCED FOR ILLEGALLY IMPORTING CORAL ROCK INTO THE UNITED STATES
November 8, 2006 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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 and Customs Enforcement, announced that Carib Sea, Inc., a Fort Pierce-based aquarium supply company, and Richard Greenfield, 46, of Fort Pierce, pled guilty and were sentenced in federal District Court on November 7, 2006, 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.
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 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.
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 use in commerce.
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 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 http://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 http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.
That is definitely not cool. Looks like I won't be purchasing from Carib-Sea as well. But one question..... where will we get our sand. I recently have tried the Nature's Ocean Bio-sand. I like the appearance of the sand. Also helps that it already contains bacteria when packed.
We'll make our own using crushed coral and a big hammer.
Pretty stupid move on the part of Carib-Sea, everyone should make sure to tell your LFS about this in case they haven't heard about it yet -- ours hadn't.
commercial opertunities & financial gains.
I do spit on the practice cause its raping the protected zones of the ocean, and the marine authorities handled it well. Although its written they pleaded guilty to such charges it might, i'll repeat, might pay to keep an open mind with extenuating curcumstances. Companies although responsable for their transactions, Reps, Ceo's MD's what-ever, are not always physicly at the point of collection, nor do they follow up closely to how its produced, just as long as it is! Hence the reason is term "suppliers" they consume the stress of meeting quoters, all you do as a company is put a number to the delivery. Im talking outside the box here, i dont know, is the whole area surrounding a protected reserve? are there places close by that are still collection points? You guys see where im getting at. Im not standing up for the practice in the slightest, but before everyone jumps on the band wagon on something that happened 6months ago & condem the company to slander and subsiquent loss of business. Id suggest you be real clear whether it was malicious intent for profit in the first place or just a slap happy supply decsion.
Flame away guys, Im wrapped in heat shelding today..haha
I agree with that Veriann, but the first thing I would do limit PR damage would be to generate a press release and have that front page on my website. No mention of any of this at the Carib-sea website.
Wow! I'm shocked that ANY company involved in modern reef technology could stoop to this kind of behavior. We need more people in the business that are willing to stand up for eco-friendliness. I will definitely think twice before buying their product.
...Betsey Moore, vice president of the company, said Wednesday the material, often used in construction in Haiti, was mined from the land, not the ocean, and no living coral was harmed. Coral rock is typically used in aquariums for decoration, she said.
CaribSea Inc. did not have the proper permits to bring the material into the country, but has since obtained the necessary documents, Moore said.
"Plain and simple, we made a mistake," she said. "It was never intentional." ...
...Betsey Moore, vice president of Carib Sea, on Wednesday stressed the rock the company tried to import was mined from land and not the ocean. She said it's used in construction and decorative material for aquariums.
She said the company is very "ecologically minded," and it made a mistake by not having the correct permit to import the coral rock.
"I want to stress this was coral rock and not coral. There's a huge difference," Moore said. "It's perfectly legal with a simple permit, which we've obtained since."...
Looks like this was just dry base rock that they import all the time, they just neglected to obtain the correct permit for that particular shipment.
The Quote you posted from Carib Sea is what would be expected from a company that has violated the law. After all Ken Ley of Enron fame was innocent, wasn't he???
If you are interested in reading a more heated discussion between the Miami supplier, who the FL Fish and Game contacted, and someone claiming to be with CS. Go to the link below. You'll read that some of this "dead" rock was 10 lb live brain coral heads.
I can't say what's truth or fiction. But the guilty always claim to be innocent of wrong doing.
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
Having practiced law for ten years, you don't just "plead guilty" to something that you didn't do or that you need an appropriate permit for. The shipment would have been delayed until the permit was produced. Sounds like the did some harm Amp?
once again the question still remains if it was malicious intent or not!
and Amp, the guilty/non guilty parties both say they are innocent, its like saying your a witch if you float, or your not a witch if you sink. Abit open-ended to me brother!
Boz, in practising law for all those years, your aware people of your suit are the only winners. Sometimes its easier to take the fine than to drag proccedings out for longer than it has to. Couple that with the fact they are the inporter & no sugar coating dressing is going to hide that fact, it very well might have been the lesser of 2 evils.
Once again, not defending them, cause in reality, i know sqwat. I personally like to have all the facts in most cases before i commit to a common movement.
A Miami Importer was consulted by F&W after the bust in March. Here's a quote from his first post on another forum, Reefs.org.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bobimport
I cant believe that they are right back to spinning what they did in Haiti. Some of that "live rock" was brain coral that were over 10 lb. I know the person who shipped them from Haiti. The guy in Haiti was digging up a reef and dropping it in a rock crusher. Their "permit" was obtained after the fact by 30 days or so and is questionable. How they thought they could bring up a container of coral up the Miami river and avoid clearing Fish and wildlife is beyond me. What arrogance. These people have been in the business for 35 years and did not know you have to give documents to fish and wildlife? Bull!!!!! Its cowboys like this that reflect on our business. Permits for more than 6,000 lbs are not supposed to be issued. The container was manifested as 40,000 lb of sand..... lol what spin I think there were 3 or 4 bags on the container. As an expert on permits in Haiti Fish and wildlife consulted with me after the bust and let me tell you what Carib is saying is just plain not true
This thread gets heated but I found it very interesting. If this subject interests you, you may want to read it.
__________________ Amphibious
Reaching my 70th BD, I realize that I cannot help but grow old. However, I refuse to grow up!!! My wife would tell you, "He may be 70 but, He's going on 17". Life is wonderful with a woman like that.
"Boz, in practising law for all those years, your aware people of your suit are the only winners. Sometimes its easier to take the fine than to drag proccedings out for longer than it has to. "
True enough Veriann! I stopped practicing because of my general distaste for lawyers. Lawyers are always the ones that make out in regard to any proceeding.
However, i will say that as the charges are listed as a "criminal offense" - there is a lot more at stake than a simple fine. If this is a felony, these folks lose their right to vote (among other things). This goes on the permanent record of the individuals that were caught.
As a "counselor", my responsibility would be to not allow a client to take the criminal rap for something that they didn't do - it all sounds very "fishy" to me.
Sounds like the jury is still out on this one.....
The construction lobby is perhaps the most powerful group on earth. You will never hear about their "contribution" to the destruction of the reef and the wild. Do you know what concrete is made from?
Carib Sea is but one of many companies caught in an environment of changes in custom regulation changes, especially in the wake of Homeland Security Changes in recent years.
Coral material is a vital ingredient in concrete and cement mixes. Wrecking balls and pile drivers are common methods to gather materials for construction..........yet we hear so little about it. Those of you who use Southdown sand, where did you think it came from? Those of you who buy Walt Smith live rocks, where did you think it came from?.
V-series Productions 
This goes on the permanent record of the individuals that were caught. 
USA