Commercial Fishing

Lobster Mobster Harry Bethel Jr Found Guilty

BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com

It took a jury four hours Friday to find Harry Bethel Jr. and his two mates guilty of pulling another fisherman’s lobster traps three years ago.

Bethel Jr., 48, and co-defendants Shamus Davis, 32, and Lawrence Pinder, 54, were found guilty of one count of trap molestation, a third-degree felony with a maximum punishment of five years in prison. Each is scheduled to be sentenced before circuit Judge David Audlin on June 28.

Audlin granted Assistant State Attorney Val Winter’s request that fishing licenses for each man be revoked pending sentencing. Each could have their licenses permanently revoked at that time, Winter said. None of the defendants was taken into custody, as Audlin did not find them to be a threat to the community, Winter said. Each initially was charged with two counts of trap molestation. Jurors found them guilty of pulling only one of the two traps the state argued they molested while fishing aboard Bethel Jr.’s crawfish vessel, the Kayla Renee II, near Sugarloaf Key in 2007.

“They found them guilty on the trap that [a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC)] pilot had under constant surveillance,” Winter said. Two FWC officers responded to the Kayla Renee II under the direction of FWC pilot Lt. John Murphy, according to court testimony. Much of the state’s case centered on Murphy’s testimony of what he saw while on patrol about 2,000 to 3,000 feet in the air.

Defense attorney Manny Garcia, who is representing Bethel, and Assistant Public Defender Christopher Bridger, assigned to the other two defendants, hammered away in their closing arguments Friday at what Murphy was able to see from that height. It was the second trial in the case, as prosecutors failed to convince a jury in January that the fishermen had molested any traps. Audlin declared a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a verdict in the first trial.

In an unrelated arson case, Bethel Jr. has not accepted a plea agreement offered by prosecutors. Winter declined to comment on the specifics of the offer until it has been legally accepted or rejected in court and made public. That charge carries a maximum of 35 years in prison and $5,000 in fines if Bethel is found guilty. Prosecutors allege he set fire to a thatched-roof tiki hut at the home of his cousin and business partner, with whom he was arguing, in September 2007.

Bethel is the son of former Key West City Commissioner Harry Bethel Sr. and current Key West Bight Board chairman.

More Lobster Mobsters Sentenced to Prison

By ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff

Two Bay Point men were sentenced to a year in prison on charges that they conspired to poach lobster, a judge ruled Monday, closing the last chapter on two illegal lobster harvesting cases that snared eight people.

John Buckheim, 23, and Nick Demauro, 24, both apologized to federal Judge James Lawrence King, their friends, family and wildlife officers.

“I acknowledge and take full responsibility for what I did,” Buckheim said. “I was young and stupid and I’m not implying that I’m old or wise now, only that I’m heading in the right direction. … I’m sorry for this major mistake and you won’t find me in this position again.”

Demauro told the judge he had “taken everything for granted.”

Both men pleaded guilty in October to harvesting lobsters by diving on illegal artificial habitats, called casitas, primarily in the Content Keys area north of Big Pine Key, from July 2008 through October 2008, according to court documents.

The judge granted U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald’s request to delay their prison sentence 100 days so both men can continue their work removing as many as 600 casitas from Florida Keys waters. The judge ordered both to surrender to corrections officials on May 12.

The judge also allowed both men to resume legal commercial fishing immediately upon their release from prison, despite the prosecutor’s recommendation that both be prohibited during the two years of supervision that is to follow their release.

Miami defense attorneys Bruce Alter and Steven Potolsky urged the judge to consider the defendants’ ages, their clean criminal histories and their desire to make amends as mitigating factors at sentencing, but the prosecutor was unmoved, painting the men as astute fishermen who knew the risks involved.

“These were not youths who stumbled into this,” the prosecutor told the judge, describing taped conversations between the two men, and the hundreds of casitas they fished.

Buckheim and Demauro worked for David and Denise Dreifort of Cudjoe Key at one time. The latter were sentenced in July for spearheading a large lobster poaching ring that involved four other people, in a separate but related case. David Dreifort was sentenced to 2¬½ years in prison in July. His wife was sentenced to seven months in prison. Prosecutors found thousands of lobsters at one of their homes on Lookdown Lane last year.

Buckheim and Demauro began their own illegal operation after their stint with the Dreiforts, and they sold lobster to a Stock Island seafood company in 32 separate incidents for a total of $45,974, records say. The company has not been charged in the case, the prosecutor said.

Both men were warned by David Dreifort to cease their operation after he was indicted, but they continued, the prosecutor said. Federal agents began visual and electronic surveillance of Buckheim and Demauro during the larger investigation that involved the Dreiforts, reports say.

Both pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement in which prosecutors dropped two charges that could have added at least 10 years to their sentences.

alinhardt@keysnews.com

Another Lobster Mobster Trial Begins

Jury selection began Monday and open arguments are expected today in the lobster trap molesting trial of three Key West residents. Harry Bethel Jr. faces two felony counts of lobster trap molesting for allegedly pulling fishermens traps near Mayland Shoal in the Atlantic Ocean off Sugarloaf Key in January 2008. Bethel, Lawrence Pinder, 59, and M. Shamus Davis, 30, rejected a plea agreement that called for a year in prison.Bethel is the namesake of a former Key West city commissioner and current Key West Bight Board chairman.

via Mile Markers | KeysNews.com.

Adios Lobster Casitas & Lobster Mobsters

Restorative justice may include casita removalOperation Freezer Burn, a multiyear investigation by state and federal law enforcement agencies, took down two of the most legendary lobster poachers in the Florida Keys, Dave Dreifort, and his wife, Denise. Sentenced to 30 months and seven months respectively, the couple also was ordered to forfeit more than $1 million in property.

In addition to the Dreiforts, the investigation secured four other convictions with sentences ranging from 10 months in prison to a year on parole.A subsequent investigation, dubbed Frost Bite, successfully nabbed two more men who had worked with the Dreiforts in the past, John Buckheim and Nick Demauro, both 23 years old. Each of these men has pleaded guilty and now await their sentences.In the latter case, we have seen something a bit different. Buckheim and Demauro have taken it upon themselves to start undoing some of the harm they have done.In addition to poaching lobsters, much of the case made by the government revolved around illegal lobster habitats, or “casitas.”

These are man-made structures — often old oil drums or discarded appliances — intended to attract lobsters so they can be easily, and illegally, harvested.Tens of thousands of these casitas scattered throughout Florida Keys waters create what many experts consider an ecological disaster, disrupting natural migration patterns and tearing up the sea floor. Removal of the artificial lobster habitats is a major priority for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, but hiring commercial salvors for the job is very expensive.While awaiting their sentencing, Buckheim and Demauro, with the permission of sanctuary officials, have been removing hundreds of the illegally placed casitas from the Gulf of Mexico.

Their motivation is simple: to show they have taken responsibility for their actions and are helping repair the harm they and others have done. And, of course, they hope to curry favor with the judge who will be handing down their sentences.In legal circles, this behavior is referred to as restorative justice.These young men are far from role models, and they certainly should experience consequences for breaking the law. But we cannot help but note that their pre-emptive corrective action contributes to a sense that justice has been better served in this case than in others where the criminals are serving jail time.The debris littering the ocean floor must be removed. It can be done by contractors at considerable taxpayer expense or it can be done at little to no cost by Buckheim and Demauro. We hope the court considers this when considering what sentence best fits the crime — and the public good.–

The Citizen

via Editorial | KeysNews.com.

More Lower Keys Lobster Mobsters Arrested

Federal authorities arrested two Lower Keys commercial lobster divers Friday on charges of illegally harvesting more than 1,000 pounds of lobster worth at least $17,000.

John Buckheim and Nick Demauro, of 79 Palm Drive in the Saddlebunch Keys, were arrested by National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration law enforcement agents. The pair are accused of sinking a boat to create an artificial habitat, known as a casita, south of Sammy’s Creek Bridge on Sugarloaf Key on Oct. 29, 2008, according to a federal indictment.

Prosecutors allege the poaching began in 2008 and continued into this year, reports say.

Both men are scheduled to appear in a Miami courthouse today.

The arrest comes a week before the start of the commercial lobster season.

Lobster-poaching ring leader gets 2.5 years in federal pen

Admitted Lower Keys lobster poacher David Dreifort was sentenced Friday to two and a half years in prison, and his wife [Denise D. Dreifort] to seven months in jail, for leading what’s been called the Key’s largest lobster poaching operation ever. Their sentencings by U.S. District Court Judge Jose Martinez put the lid on a case the feds dubbed Operation Freezer Burn. According to evidence presented through pleadings, trial and other in-court statements, the six defendants in Operation Freezer Burn were directly involved in illegally taking 1,197 lobster on the opening day of Florida’s commercial lobster season in August 2008, and stockpiling approximately 1,700 pounds of wrung lobster tail harvested during the closed season. The operation was based out of Cudjoe Key.

In addition to prison, David Dreifert was ordered to serve three years of probation following his release, and is prohibited from fishing for five years in South Florida.  [That's NOT long enough] His wife follows her jail time with seven months of home confinement with electronic monitoring, and is also banned from fishing South Florida waters for five years. The Dreiforts also forfeited to the U.S. government their three vehicles and three vessels, used in the lobster poaching operation. On June 11, Robert Hammer was sentenced to two months in jail, home confinement for six months with electronic monitoring, and supervised release for two years. 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.

On June 10, Sean Reyngoudt was sentenced to home confinement for four months with electronic monitoring, four years of probation and 300 hours of community service. He’s banned from fishing South Florida waters for four years.

On June 2, Key Wester Michael Delph was sentenced to 10 months in jail, home confinement for six months with electronic monitoring, 100 hours of community service and supervised release for two years.  Delph is the only one who went to trial. [This is the saddest case, local fishing legend's son.]

John Niles, the first to enter a guilty plea, cooperated in the case, and testified against Delph. He received a year of probation.

via Lobster-poaching ring leader gets 2.5 years in federal pen.

Local Lobster Poacher Gets 10 Months in Prison

A judge sentenced the longtime Key West fishing guide and firefighter Michael Delph to 10 months in prison and two years on parole.

“From day one I never denied my involvement,” Delph told the court. “I decided to fight it because I’ll lose my job as a fishing guide and a firefighter. I’m very remorseful and I’m sorry for the hardship and humiliation this has brought to my family and my fellow firefighters. It’s a hard pill to swallow. I’ve let a lot of people down and I understand that.”

U.S. Judge Jose Martinez was swift when he finally handed down the sentence, far less than the maximum five years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines Delph faced. Martinez did not impose any fines. “Mr. Delph, when I came into this courthouse today, my intention was to give you the upper sentencing guidelines,” Martinez said. “You have some very good friends and a good family, and family is always those that suffer the most. You seem to have led a good life and I’m sorry you are in this situation.”

Beware Lobster Mobsters

The judge said, “In this community, people need to know that if they do this and get caught, they’re going to be sorry.”
Read more…

Florida Keys Seafood Festival – Key West

The Keys celebrate the bounty of the sea — Florida lobster, yellowtail, sweet pink shrimp, grouper, stone crab claws and more — during the third annual Florida Keys Seafood Festival from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Jan. 19. The event, at Key West’s Bayview Park at Truman Avenue and Eisenhower Drive, features music and children’s activities as well as such specialties as conch chowder and conch fritters. All the seafood available for purchase will be prepared by fishermen and their families. Admission is free. Proceeds benefit the Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association and scholarships for college-bound children of commercial fishermen. Call 800-527-8539.

FWC Chooses to Study Legality of Lobster Casitas in the Florida Keys

Buffetted by sharply contrasting views of underwater casitas, state fishery managers tossed the spiny-lobster issue to their lawyers Wednesday.

“We’re not moving forward to legalize casitas,” Kathy Barco, chairwoman of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, said after discussion at the board’s annual Key Largo meeting. Barco added, “The science didn’t say everything [about casitas] was bad…. I’ve listened to both sides and don’t have an opinion yet.”

The no-vote decision by the FWC board to seek a legal clarification on jurisdictional issues will keep the casita debate on the table.

In the aquatic vocabulary, casitas are illegal underwater structures built on the sea floor to attract lobster, allowing the crustaceans to be easily harvested by divers. It’s now illegal to build casitas or harvest lobster from existing ones.

Advocates of casitas describe them as less damaging to the sea floor than wooden lobster traps and say they virtually eliminate bycatch of fish that might be caught in traps.

“The potential is tremendous,” said Lower Keys commercial diver John Coffin, a former trapper. “Use this wonderful gear to abate some of the impacts from trap fishing.”

Fishermen in the Bahamas and Cuba successfully use casitas, said Lower Keys fisherman Russell Moore, president of the Ecologically Concerned Commercial Divers group. “They create no pollution and no navigational hazards,” he said. “I think they’re good for the fishery and the environment.”

Opponents say legalized casitas could destroy livelihoods in the traditional trap-fishing fleet to benefit an expanded dive fishery that would be virtually impossible to oversee. “This could create a nightmare in the fishery,” said Florida Keys Commercial Fishermen’s Association Executive Director Bill Kelly. “It’s ludicrous to encourage the use of these illegal structures.”

“In a word, don’t,” Organized Fishermen of Florida director Jerry Sansom told the FWC board. “Don’t go there. There’s no way you’ll be able to get your hands around this thing.”

“If you can’t control the numbers of casitas out there now when they’re illegal and prohibited,” Sansom said, “how are you going to develop a management plan to determine how many should be out there and who can use them?”

Casitas don’t seem to affect lobster migration patterns, John Hunt, administrator of the state Fish and Wildlife Research Institute’s Marathon office, said in a briefing to the FWC on a two-year study of casitas in Gulf of Mexico waters north of the Lower Keys.

The structures seem to cause “rather minor change” to the sand-and-limestone bottom around them in the study area, he said. But the casitas do make it easy for divers to catch large numbers of lobster in the opening weeks of the season. “The big issue is the shift from one user group to another group through use of this illegal gear,” Hunt said.

Any attempt to legalize casitas requires agreement from a wide spectrum of state and federal agencies, FWC staff said. “The first and biggest issue is that the FWC does not have [complete] jurisdiction,” fisheries analyst Aaron Podey said. “This is not something the FWC can do on its own.”

A preliminary 2007 survey of other agencies with some jurisdiction over the ocean floor showed “pretty much everybody has a hand in the cookie jar,” Podey said. “And there others we haven’t talked to yet.”

While FWC commissioners acknowledged that casita advocates made some strong points, they worried about harming an established trap industry that has worked with the state for decades to control fishing effort.

Board members asked FWC lawyers and staff to provide a more detailed overview of jurisdictional questions on casitas.

“If we look at anything, we should see if we can go anywhere jurisdictionally,” Barco said. “If we have no jurisdiction, we’re dead in the water anyway.” Vice Chairman Kenneth Wright agreed, “There’s no sense going through the brain damage on this if there’s no way to work it out

Commercial Lobster Diver Booked for Building Illegal Casita

A commercial lobster diver faces an arraignment hearing in local court Friday on a count of possessing artificial-reef materials on the water.

Manuel Ravelo Jr., 35, of Key West was booked into the Monroe County jail Dec. 24 and released after posting $1,000 bond on the misdemeanor count. Ironically, Ravelo was named in 2005 to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Spiny Lobster Advisory Board as a commercial diver. The panel later voted to ask that he be removed because of missed meetings.

An information report on Ravelo’s case was filed Nov. 21 by the office of Monroe County State Attorney Mark Kohl stemming from an incident at sea June 11. According to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report, officers on patrol three miles north of Key West conducted a boat-safety and catch inspection aboard a 29-foot boat carrying Ravelo and another man.

Officers reported finding “many pieces of rebar approximately [3 feet] in length” along with a sledgehammer and tool bag. The iron reinforcing rods and tools were suitable for use in building an illegal underwater habitat to attract lobster, according to the FWC. Ravelo would not offer an alternative purpose for the materials aboard his boat, officers reported. Ravelo could not be reached for comment this week.

Underwater habitats, also known locally as casitas, are used to provide spaces where lobster congregate. During lobster season, divers can go to the site and collect many crustaceans rather than looking for them in their natural habitats. While commercial divers maintain such habitats are beneficial to the marine environment, biologists fear the structures could be detrimental to the lobster’s normal behavior. Hundreds of these structures are believed to have been built illegally around the Keys, according to government officials.

Under current state law, it is illegal to build such an underwater habitat without permits, or to carry on the water “any materials reasonably suited … for use and placement as an artificial reef.”

Florida Keys Lobster