Recent investigations and arrests from the around the State
On January 25th and 26th, officers from the DEC's Division of Law Enforcement in New York City conducted a citywide sweep of supermarkets and seafood markets that were offering for sale potentially contaminated shellfish. The officers seized a total of approximately 492 lbs. of illegal clams from stores in Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn, as well as from the distributor of the product. The officers issued a total of 21 tickets to the stores for Illegal Commercialization of Shellfish. The owner of the company that was distributing the illicit shellfish, Howei Trading, Inc., was arrested and charged with Illegal Commercialization of Shellfish. It is expected that additional charges will be filed against more stores in the near future.
The majority of the shellfish that the officers seized has been identified as the Malaysian Cockle or Granular Ark (Tegillarca granosa), although it is commonly referred to as the blood clam due to the red meat inside of the shell. The blood clam is native to the southwest Pacific region of the world. The clams that the officers seized were illegally imported from China. There are only five countries in the world whose shellfish sanitary regulations meet the stringent standards of the FDA and New York State and who are allowed to legally import raw shellfish into the U.S. for human consumption; China is not one of them. The blood clams were being offered for sale for up to $15.99/lb.
In addition to the blood clams, the officers seized other species of clams that were being offered for sale without the required tag showing their origin from certified shellfish waters. The Department is working to identify these other species of clams.
The detail was organized and coordinated by Lt. John Fitzpatrick. The participating ECOs were ECO Matt Baker, ECO Eric Dowling, ECO Nathan Favreau, ECO Matt Krug, ECO Chris Lattimer, ECO Doreen Lum, ECO Tim Machnica, ECO Greg Maneeley, ECO A.M. Mat, ECO Shea Mathis, ECO Jennifer Okonuk, ECO Jamie Powers, ECO George Scheer, ECO David Thomas, ECO Kevin Thomas, ECO Brent Wilson, and ECO Jared Woodin. DEC Shellfish Inspector Sue Ritchie also participated in the detail.
Assistant Attorney General Hugh McLean of the Attorney General's office is prosecuting the cases. This case was made possible with the assistance of Stephen T. Tettelbach, Professor of Biology at Long Island University, C.W. Post, and DEC Associate Bacteriologist, Lee Porter.
The following businesses were charged with the illegal commercializatin of wildlife and other violations of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law:
- Howei Trading, Inc., 4709 8th Avenue, Brooklyn - 160 lbs. of blood clams. Howei is the importer and distributor of the blood clams.
- Golden Way Market, Inc., 11 Market Street, Manhattan - 60lbs. of blood clams.
- New York Supermarket, 75 East Broadway, Manhattan - 10 lbs. of blood clams and 16 lbs. of untagged clams of unidentified species
- American Fu Zhou Grocery, Inc., 101 East Broadway, Manhattan - 20 lbs. of untagged clams of unidentified species
- Sunrise Supermarket, 40-33 Main Street, Queens - 38 lbs. of blood clams
- U.S. Supermarket, 82-66 Broadway, Queens - 48 lbs. of blood clams
- Gold City Supermarket, 46-31 Kissena Blvd., Queens - 29 lbs. of blood clams
- Great Wall Supermarket, 77-00 Queens Blvd., Queens - 11.5 lbs of blood clams
- Chung Fat Supermarket, Inc., 41-82 Main Street, Queens - 30 lbs. of blood and untagged, unidentified species of clams
- New Dawang Seafood Market, 5724 8th Avenue, Brooklyn - 20 lbs. of Vietnamese clams (also illegal)
- Hua Sheng Market, Inc., 5623 8th Avenue, Brooklyn - 35 lbs. of untagged clams of unidentified species
- New Fei Long Market, Inc., 5723 8th Avenue, Brooklyn - 13 lbs. of blood clams
He has also been charged with criminal possession of stolen property 3rd degree, a Class D felony, for the alleged possession of a stolen $37,500 log skidder which was stolen from the at Meltz Lumber yard in the city of Hudson in Columbia County in the fall of 2005. (The stolen skidder is shown at left)
In addition, Maxim has been charged with scheme to defraud 1st degree a Class E felony for an alleged systematic and ongoing course of conduct between 2004-2007 in which seven different landowners in Schoharie and Delaware Counties claim timber was stolen by Maxim, or payment for timber harvested
by Maxim was inadequate. The exact value of the timber theft is unknown because not all victims have had timber surveys completed. However, the value of the stolen timber is estimated to be in the thousands of dollars.
If convicted, Maxim faces up to seven years in prison for each of the "D" felonies and up to four years for the "E" felony, plus $5,000 for each felony or double the amount of gain from the crime.
The New York State Environmental Conservation Police are specially trained in the investigation of timber thefts and conduct these investigations regularly. Anyone who discovers that their timber has been removed without their permission should contact the Division of Law Enforcement Dispatch Center at 1-877-457-5680, or you can find the contact information for all regions and officers of the Division of Law Enforcement on the NYSDEC website at http://www.dec.ny.gov/about/621.html
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation Police Officers conducted an early-morning sweep of the Fulton Fish Market in the South Bronx in July, seizing more than 200 illegal fish products. The effort resulted in JMS Seafood Corporation being charged with a misdemeanor for the unlawful sale of oversized striped bass.
The sweep was a joint operation involving 13 NYSDEC Environmental Conservation Officers (ECOs), three Rhode Island Environmental Police Officers, investigators from the New York City Business Integrity Commission (BIC), and agents from the National Marine Fisheries Service. New York State often works closely with surrounding states in the enforcement of marine fishery laws. The Rhode Island officers were present as part of a training initiative to introduce them to the Fulton Fish Market and the market's potential enforcement challenges.
"This was an excellent example of effective coordination between Federal, State, and City law enforcement personnel," Suzanne Mattei, Regional Director for the NYSDEC Region 2 office in New York City, said. "The interstate cooperation between New York and Rhode Island is especially beneficial for the protection of our shared marine resources."
At approximately 11:30 p.m. on Wednesday, July 16, two plainclothes New York State ECOs entered the Fulton Fish Market to conduct surveillance of the wholesale distributors of fresh seafood. These officers noted multiple violations and contacted uniformed personnel with specifics on the locations and nature of the illegal activity they observed. At
"One of the primary missions of BIC is to eliminate all forms of criminality and corruption from the public wholesale markets in New York City." said BIC Commissioner Michael J. Mansfield, "We commend New York's Environmental Conservation Police and our other law enforcement partners, for assisting us in that process. In addition to these criminal charges, the companies and individuals cited are subject to administrative sanctions by the Commission that may affect their ability to conduct business at the New Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point."
The Fulton Fish Market is the largest consortium of seafood wholesalers in the country. In recent years, over-harvesting, disease, and pollution have put a strain on the marine resources of New York and neighboring states. Violators of state and federal marine wildlife regulations contribute to the decline of fisheries along the Eastern Seaboard. Enforcement actions such as these are crucial to protect and conserve these vital fisheries for future generations.
Illegal Clam Dealer Snagged by DEC Police
Owner of Bao Ding Sea Food, Inc. Pays $26,000.00 in Fines
The clams were imported from China, which does not a have a shellfish program that is approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration. Neither Bao Ding nor the alleged supplier of the clams in China, Eastern Seafood, is a certified shellfish dealer in New York and therefore the clams could not legally be sold or offered for sale in the state.
On 6/12/08, both defendants in this case pled guilty in Court and paid a total of $26,000 in fines. The corporation, Bao Ding Sea Food, Inc., pled guilty in Brooklyn Supreme Court to two felony-level counts of illegal commercialization of shellfish, as charged. The corporation paid $20,000 in fines, the maximum allowed under the law.The owner of the company, Shi-Ben Zheng, pled guilty in Brooklyn Criminal Court
to two misdemeanors: misdemeanor-level illegal commercialization of shellfish and Penal Law Reckless Endangerment in the 2nd degree; he also received a 1-year Conditional Discharge. He paid $6,000 in fines, the maximum allowed under the law. Zheng's guilty plea to Reckless Endangerment, as charged, is likely the first time that a defendant in New York has been convicted of Reckless Endangerment for the importation and sale of contaminated shellfish in the markets.
The opening of archery season brought an unusual arrest in Allegany County. ECOs Mark Wojtkowiak and Russ Calanni investigated the report of a bowhunter who had shot and killed a domestic donkey mistaking it for a deer.
It seems that the donkey broke its tether and wandered onto an adjacent property where some hunters from Niagara Falls had gathered at a camp. One of the hunters, returning to the camp, spotted the animal with its head down on the edge of a field below the camp. Stalking within 20 yards of the animal, the hunter shot the donkey. His explanation was that he thought it was the biggest doe he had ever seen. This in
spite of the fact that the animal weighed about 400 pounds, was light gray in color and had a tail that was three feet long!
ECO Wojtkowiak reports that the investigation uncovered that the donkey had its head down at the time it was shot because it was licking on an illegal salt lick at the edge of the field. The camp owner, Michael Hansen of Niagara Falls, was chaged with the illegal placing of the salt lick on lands inhabited by deer.
Michael Crampton, also of Niagara Falls, was charged with hunting over bait, a Conservation Law violation and with the unjustified killing of an animal, which is a crime prohibited by the State's Agriculture and Markets Law. Maximum fines could be up to $1250.00, and Mr. Crampton's hunting privileges could be revoked for up to five years. Mr. Crampton will also be held responsible for reimbursing the donkey's owner with the value of the animal, which was estimated to be about $2000.00.
It is very unfortunate when a hunter gets so caught up in the hunt that reason and training is forgotten. There is no reason that an incident like this should ever happen. No hunter should ever discharge a firearm or shoot an arrow without first positively identifiying their target and ensuring that the area behind the target is safe for the shot.
In October, Environmental Conservation Officer Michael Arp received an anonymous tip indicating that illegal baiting activity was taking place in the Town of Halcott, in Greene County, New York. The caller informed Officer Arp that the owner of a hunting camp had been baiting bear with apples, corn, bagels, and donuts for approximately five weeks. The camp owner had also been bragging that he intended to shoot a bear with a rifle over the bait pile prior to opening day of archery season if he had the opportunity.
While ECOs Mike Arp and Mike Terrell were initiating a surveillance of the area of the camp, they were surprised to see a man dragging a large bear across the property. Under close questioning, the man admitted that he was the
camp owner. The evidence was obvious and the man could not deny that he had just shot the bear as it stood in the middle of his bait pile, which was over ten feet square and two feet deep. Further questioning uncovered that the man had shot the bear from the roof of the camp garage during the previous night. The bear's estimated live weight was over 550 lbs. An untagged turkey was also uncovered during the investigation.
The camp owner, 50 year-old Peter Varvatsoulis of Whitestone, New York, was charged with the illegal taking of a black bear, the illegal taking of a turkey, and a number of related violations. He was arraigned in the Town of Halcott Court where he pled guilty to all charges and was fined $1450.00. Mr. Varvatsoulis is now facing revocation of his hunting privileges.
