Feds take a bite out of shark poachers
The federal government's jaws have clamped down upon a San Leandro pastor and four other Bay Area men accused of poaching and smuggling protected California leopard sharks from the bay, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
A federal grand jury indictment handed up Jan. 24 and unsealed Tuesday says the men conspired to violate the federal Lacey Act, which bans knowingly selling or buying fish against underlying law - in this case, a state law that prohibits taking California leopard sharks less than 36 inches long.
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Among those indicted is the Rev. Kevin Thompson, 48, of San Leandro, pastor of the Bay Area Family Church on Washington Avenue in San Leandro, which is a ministry of the Holy Spirit Association - Unification Worldwide Church founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon.
Prosecutors say Thompson and the church co-owned at least one boat used in the scheme, and that Thompson paid Ishikawa and another, unnamed fisherman to catch the sharks, later depositing some proceeds from the sharks' sales into his personal bank account.
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The indictment says the men schemed from 2000 through 2004 to harvest thousands of undersized sharks from the bay, and then sell and ship them to pet trade distributors across the country and in Europe. Specifically, about 465 juvenile leopard sharks were sold to companies in Miami; Chicago; Houston; Romulus, Mich.; Milford, Conn; the Netherlands; and the United Kingdom.
Also indicted are: ...- Hiroshi Ishikawa, 36, of San Leandro, a member of the Bay Area Family Church and a fisherman;
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The five Bay Area men were arrested and appeared Tuesday before [Judge]Brazil, who released Thompson, Ishikawa, Ng and Lim on $100,000 bail each. Newberry was held in custody pending determination of his immigration status. All five are due back in court Monday
Laws are for others in moonieworld...from 2000
Rev. Moon charged with overfishing
Kodiak, Alaska (AP) - The Rev. Sun Myung Moon, head of the Unification Church, was charged along with his wife with catching too many fish during a visit to Alaska.
Moon pulled in 10 coho salmon - twice the legal limit - and his wife, Hak Ja Han, 47, took six, said Trooper Sgt. Joanna Roop, a state wildlife enforcement officer. Husband and wife face fines of $250 each.
Officers said they saw Moon, 80, catch the salmon Friday while he was with about a dozen other people on Marka Bay, about 225 miles southwest of Anchorage.
The Unification Church is the largest taxpayer and the biggest private employer in Kodiak, one of the nation's busiest fishing ports. Its assets include fishing boats and a fish-processing plant