Maltese Freighter Captain Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court
The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon, announced that the Vessel Master of the Adfines East plead guilty to operating a commercial vessel under the influence of alcohol in the Port of Portland. Valeriy Sharykin, 62, a Russian citizen, and captain of a Maltese freighter plead guilty before U.S. Magistrate John V. Acosta. Defendant Sharykin was charged by information with negligent operation of a commercial vessel, a class A misdemeanor. Sharykin was the licensed Vessel Master on the Adfines East, a 602 foot commercial vessel, weighing over 24,000 gross tons and sailing under the flag of Malta. While conducting an official inspection of the vessel on April 8…
Greek Operator Pleads Guilty
Pendulum Shipmanagement Inc., a ship management company, headquartered in Greece, pleaded guilty on Jan. 13 to charges that it conspired with members of the crew of the M/V Quantum, a commercial cargo ship, to defraud the United States by falsifying the vessel’s Oil Record Book, announced Acting United States Attorney Laurie Magid. United States District Judge Berle M. Schiller immediately sentenced the company to a $1.3m fine, a $1,600 special assessment, three years of probation, and ordered the company to implement an Environmental Compliance Plan. The false entries and omissions in the Oil Record Book pertained to the improper management and disposal of oily waste and ballast containing an oily mixture by the ship.
News: Fraudulent Seamen Charges Brought on 5
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida has stated that five people have been indicted for bringing aliens into the United States by falsely asserting that the aliens were seamen joining ships in U.S. ports. The indicted individuals allegedly prepared false identification documents and made false statements to government officials. If convicted, the defendants face between five and 10 years' imprisonment and fines of $250,000 as to each count. Maria Machado Diaz, Larry Milton, Guillermo Vidaurre, Delber Diaz, and Marvin Joseph, Jr., are being charged with migrant smuggling. They are facing five and 10 years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to each count. The agencies have been investigating Diaz and associates since October 2002.
River Pilot Pleads Guilty
Jim Letten, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana, announced that TEAL MURDOCH GRUE, a river pilot and member of the New Orleans Baton Rouge Steamship Pilot's Association ("NOBRA") pled guilty to a Superseding Bill of Information charging him with making false material statements to the United States and misuse of a Federal Pilot's License. GRUE admitted he filed applications with attachments to the Regional Examination Center for the United States Coast Guard in New Orleans, La., in September, 1999 and again in March, 2000, which contained false material statements and entries regarding his personal and marine history with the United States Coast Guard in order to obtain a First Class Pilot's License.
Fomer Suncruz Owner Pleads Guilty
Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; Jon Sall, Special Agent in Charge, United States Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Ricky D. Langlois, Special Agent in Charge, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division, announced that defendant, JAB America, Inc., pleaded guilty before United States District Court Judge Kenneth A. Marra, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to charges that one of its vessels, the SunCruz VI, dumped garbage off its deck into waters of the United States while departing from Port Everglades on April 24, 2003, in violation of the Refuse Act, Title 33, United States Code, Sections 407 and 411.
False Citizenship Claim Leads to Conviction
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Hal Robbins, Special Agent in Charge, Southeast Division, National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Keith Perniciaro, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Jonathan Sall, Special Agent in Charge, United States Coast Guard Investigative Service, Southeast Region, announced today that defendant, David N. Straker, a citizen of Barbados residing in Virgin Gorda, British Virgin Islands, was convicted by guilty plea and sentenced by United States District Court Judge Paul Huck in Miami, Florida, in connection with the submission of false document to the United States Coast Guard, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1001.
Five Indicted on Fraudulent Seamen Charges
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida has stated that five people have been indicted for bringing aliens into the United States by falsely asserting that the aliens were seamen joining ships in U.S. ports. The indicted individuals allegedly prepared false identification documents and made false statements to government officials. If convicted, the defendants face between five and ten years' imprisonment and fines of $250,000 as to each count. Maria Machado Diaz, Larry Milton, Guillermo Vidaurre, Delber Diaz, and Marvin Joseph, Jr., are being charged with migrant smuggling. They are facing five and ten years' imprisonment and a fine of $250,000 as to each count. The agencies have been investigating Diaz and associates since October 2002.
