Current:Home > ContactA Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish -AssetFocus
A Mississippi company is sentenced for mislabeling cheap seafood as premium local fish
View
Date:2025-04-12 00:55:03
GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) — The largest seafood distributor on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and two of its managers have been sentenced on federal charges of mislabeling inexpensive imported seafoodas local premium fish, weeks after a restaurant and its co-owner were also sentenced.
“This large-scale scheme to misbrand imported seafood as local Gulf Coast seafood hurt local fishermen and consumers,” said Todd Gee, the U.S. attorney for southern Mississippi. “These criminal convictions should put restaurants and wholesalers on notice that they must be honest with customers about what is actually being sold.”
Sentencing took place Wednesday in Gulfport for Quality Poultry and Seafood Inc., sales manager Todd A. Rosetti and business manager James W. Gunkel.
QPS and the two managers pleaded guilty Aug. 27 to conspiring to mislabel seafood and commit wire fraud.
QPS was sentenced to five years of probation and was ordered to pay $1 million in forfeitures and a $500,000 criminal fine. Prosecutors said the misbranding scheme began as early as 2002 and continued through November 2019.
Rosetti received eight months in prison, followed by six months of home detention, one year of supervised release and 100 hours of community service. Gunkel received two years of probation, one year of home detention and 50 hours of community service.
Mary Mahoney’s Old French House and its co-owner/manager Anthony Charles Cvitanovich, pleaded guilty to similar charges May 30 and were sentenced Nov. 18.
Mahoney’s was founded in Biloxi in 1962 in a building that dates to 1737, and it’s a popular spot for tourists. The restaurant pleaded guilty to wire fraud and conspiracy to misbrand seafood.
Mahoney’s admitted that between December 2013 and November 2019, the company and its co-conspirators at QPS fraudulently sold as local premium species about 58,750 pounds (26,649 kilograms) of frozen seafood imported from Africa, India and South America.
The court ordered the restaurant and QPS to maintain at least five years of records describing the species, sources and cost of seafood it acquires to sell to customers, and that it make the records available to any relevant federal, state or local government agency.
Mahoney’s was sentenced to five years of probation. It was also ordered to pay a $149,000 criminal fine and to forfeit $1.35 million for some of the money it received from fraudulent sales of seafood.
Cvitanovich pleaded guilty to misbranding seafood during 2018 and 2019. He received three years of probation and four months of home detention and was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
veryGood! (71)
Related
- Apple iOS 18.2: What to know about top features, including Genmoji, AI updates
- Barrage of bomb threats emailed to schools cancels classes across the Baltic countries
- Palestinian Americans watch with dread, as family members in Gaza struggle to stay alive
- Blast strikes Shiite mosque during Friday prayers in Afghanistan’s north
- Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
- Taking the temperature of the US consumer
- Philadelphia officer leaves hospital after airport shooting that killed 2nd officer; no arrests yet
- Gunmen kill 6 construction workers in volatile southwestern Pakistan
- Finally, good retirement news! Southwest pilots' plan is a bright spot, experts say
- New Hampshire man admits leaving threatening voicemail for Rep. Matt Gaetz
Ranking
- $73.5M beach replenishment project starts in January at Jersey Shore
- Sophie Turner Unfollows Priyanka Chopra Amid Joe Jonas Divorce
- Trump says he stands with Netanyahu after a barrage of GOP criticism for saying he ‘let us down’
- Now in theaters: A three-hour testament to Taylor Swift's titan era
- Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
- UAW announces new approach in its historic strike against the Big Three automakers
- Former congressional candidate convicted of spending campaign funds on business debts
- The toll of heat deaths in the Phoenix area soars after the hottest summer on record
Recommendation
Elon Musk's skyrocketing net worth: He's the first person with over $400 billion
Louise Glück, Nobel-winning poet of terse and candid lyricism, dies at 80
Jason Kennedy and Lauren Scruggs Welcome Baby No. 2
Azerbaijanis who fled a separatist region decades ago ache to return, but it could be a long wait
Taylor Swift makes surprise visit to Kansas City children’s hospital
Our 25th Anniversary Spectacular continues with John Goodman, Jenny Slate, and more!
Luminescent photo of horseshoe crab wins Wildlife Photographer of the Year prize
Amid fury of Israel-Hamas war, U.S. plans Israel evacuation flights for Americans starting Friday