Striper Poachers Get Sentenced

[1SHOT1KILL]

BALTIMORE SUN – The third of four Maryland watermen involved in a vast striped bass poaching scheme was sentenced in federal court Wednesday, with the judge saying he wanted to send a message about the seriousness of the crime.

Kent Conley Sadler, 31, of Tilghman Island, was ordered to spend 30 days in jail and pay $25,000 in fines and restitution for his role in the Chesapeake Bay scheme.

Sadler worked with two other Tilghman Island watermen, William J. Lednum, 41, and Michael D. Hayden Jr., 43, who took more than 92 tons of illegally caught striped bass worth nearly $500,000 from the bay from 2007 to 2011, according to prosecutors. Sadler pleaded guilty to his role, which involved helping Lednum and Hayden take more than a quarter of that illegal catch.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett should be applauded for continuing to send the message that poaching is a serious crime. Federal prosecutors recommended no jail time for Sadler, but Bennett said that to deter similar crimes, it was important to send a message that poachers can expect more than just a financial penalty.

In September 2014, Bennett sentenced Lawrence Daniel Murphy, who also played a relatively minor role in the poaching scheme, to probation and ordered him to pay $40,000 in fines and restitution.

In December 2014, he sentenced Lednum, one of the major players in the poaching conspiracy, to a year and one day in prison and ordered him along with his co-defendant Hayden to pay $498,293 in restitution to the state. Hayden will be sentenced in February.

http://www.onthewater.com/striped-bass-poacher-gets-jail-time/

BALTIMORE SUN -A Tilghman Island waterman was sentenced Friday to 18 months in prison followed by six months of home detention for poaching tens of thousands of pounds of rockfish from the Chesapeake Bay.U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett said Michael D. Hayden, Jr., 43, received the longest sentence of four men convicted in the poaching scheme because he had obstructed justice by threatening a witness.

Hayden’s sentence was the last of four to be handed down in a striped bass poaching scheme that illegally harvested 92 tons of striped bass.

http://www.onthewater.com/fisherman-sentenced-for-poaching-92-tons-of-striped-bass/

 

[nchunter]

Poach $500k and pay $25k + serve 30 days?

 

[1SHOT1KILL]

Poach $500k and pay $25k + serve 30 days?

That was just 1 of the guys, one of the 4 involved in the poaching, that got busted. That 1 guy, it was deemed only had a minor part in the poaching scheme. The ring leader of the poaching ring, got 18 months in federal prison and $489K fine, as did the number 2 man. The third guy got probation and $40K in fines.

 

[Firefly]

Glad they got busted and received punishment for their crimes. I seriously doubt the $489k in fines will ever be paid...

 

[Downeast]

Come to think of it, whatever happened to the guys who got caught in Wilmington last fall with all of the Redfish?

 

[WaterDog]

Keep in mind these inviduals knowingly were selling illegal fish on the blackmarket to circumvent the quota (and also - to not pay taxes). They willingly sold over $500k in illegal fish.

Oh, the guys caught in ILM with reddrum. $1000 fine I believe. Didn't even have their license suspended last i heard.

 

[Downeast]

Oh, the guys caught in ILM with reddrum. $1000 fine I believe. Didn't even have their license suspended last i heard.


Figures...why bother.