From the U.S. attorney's office in Anchorage:
Nov. 15, 2012
Oregon man sentenced for commercial fishing crimes
ANCHORAGE — U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that an Oregon man was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage for two counts of falsely reporting where he caught 31,000 pounds of halibut that he sold in Kodiak in 2007.
Freddie Joe Hankins, 47, of Cove, Ore., was sentenced on Nov. 8 by U.S. District Court Judge H. Russel Holland to fines totaling $25,000, a community service payment of $75,000, and three years of probation on the condition that all his fishing activities be recorded by an onboard electronic vessel monitoring system.
The sentence also requires Hankins to publish in National Fisherman magazine a statement acknowledging his wrongdoing in this case.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Cooper, the evidence established that Hankins had caught the halibut in an area where it was illegal for him to fish under the individual fishing quota system, and that he falsely stated in his landing reports that he caught the fish in another more distant but legal area.
Arne Fuglvog, former fisheries aide to U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who served a prison term for his fisheries conviction, testified at the Hankins trial that he had fished with Hankins, and that Hankins had previously made similar false landing reports claiming he caught his fish in the more distant but legal area when in fact he caught them in the area closer to port where the fishing was better but where it was illegal for him to fish.
Evidence also showed Hankins was convicted in state court in 2007 for falsifying a landing report to conceal the fact that he had exceeded the allowable bycatch of rockfish.
When sentencing Hankins, Holland found that Hankins had knowingly testified falsely at his trial when he denied he falsified the landing reports, and that this testimony amounted to perjury. The judge found further that Hankins was still "in a state of denial" about having committed the crimes for which the jury convicted him.
Loeffler commends the Office of Law Enforcement of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration for the investigation of this case.
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Is that why Arnie got off easy? He made a deal to snitch on his buddy?
ReplyDeleteWhy haven't we seen the forfeiture of I F Q's.
ReplyDeleteBoth Fuglvog and Hankins should have lost
all quota involved in these crimes.
That's a NOAA, NMFS regulation.A law on the books.
Are they going to get their Rockfish quota
allocations for these illegal trips?
Fred is a hypocrite, thug, and coward. He should feel lucky he got off so easy.
ReplyDelete^^^Speaking of cowards, how about a name, cowboy? Put your money where your typing fingers are. It sure takes a lot of balls to post bold words about somebody behind the anonymity your computer screen provides.
ReplyDeleteOtherwise, sit your happy ass down and take a seat, your argument is now invalid. How's that for hypocrisy, folks?
you are no coward Brennen,just a dumb ass.for sticking up for these two creeps who steal from all of us when they break the rules most of us abide by.
ReplyDeleteOh no, make no mistake, I am in no way, shape or form sticking up for Arne, as far as I'm concerned, he should have been left in the federal pen to rot. However, one of those creeps is my old man, so cool it. Fishing for Arne was probably the worst decision he ever made. But whatever.
ReplyDeleteThese two criminals spent years cheating the system, and have not paid a fair penalty for their crimes. November 16th comment is correct-forfeiting of IFQ's is the correct answer. The Federal prosecutors are weak and an incapable group. Fisherman should realize, that the 14th amendment states that all citizens must be treated equally within the laws. Meaning=you can lie, cheat, and steal, and your punishment, will not exceed, the lite punishment of Fuglvog & Hankins.
ReplyDelete