Something Fishy About 248 Years for Illegal Seafood ImportingRodolfo Julio Rego was indicted several weeks ago for the illegal export of snook to the United States. Snook is a sport fish that is illegal to market in the U.S., and Rego faces up to 248 years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Watts-FitzGerald in Miami is the lead prosecutor. He has become known for pursuing such cases, often leading to excessive sentences, including 8 years in federal prison for one U.S. citizen convicted of importing lobsters that were smaller than permitted by Honduran laws.

A Spring, Texas businessman landed in Watts-FitzGerald’s crosshairs four years ago. George Norris served 18 months in prison for bringing orchids into the U.S. in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international treaty also at issue in the Rego case. The Lacey Act criminalizes any violation of the CITES.

It’s also a crime under the Lacey Act to violate the wildlife laws of another country. On this basis, tour guide Robert Kern has been indicted in connection with a Russian helicopter hunting trip involving Houston billionaire Dan Duncan. The expedition was approved by Russian authorities and violated no U.S. hunting law, but Kern faces 5 years in U.S. prison for violating Russian hunting regulations.

What these cases have in common is there is not a single allegation of any harm to a single human being. Some crimes in this area merit tough prosecution, such as intentionally poisoning food for human consumption, but the net is being cast far too widely. The expanding scope of criminal law, as well as the application of foreign laws and treaties (some of which were enacted by undemocratic governments) to incarcerate American citizens, may pose a greater danger than the conduct being targeted.

– Marc Levin