The owner of a wholesale seafood dealer in Newport News will spend nearly four years in federal prison and pay $15,000 in fines, for passing off foreign crab meat as “Product of USA” blue crab.
75-year-old James R. Casey was sentenced in a federal courtroom for conspiring to commit Lacy Act violations for false seafood labeling.
Court documents show Casey, owner of Casey’s Seafood, told his employees to blend foreign crab meat with Atlantic blue crab meat, labeling the blended crab meat as “Product of USA”. He apparently even directed employees to stick those labels directly on top of labels that read “Product of Brazil” or “Product of China.” The foreign crab came from both of those countries, and also Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Central America, and some of it wasn’t even blue crab.
And it wasn’t just a few tubs of crab meat— Casey and his workers falsely labeled at least 397,917 pounds of crab meat, with a retail value in the millions of dollars, according to prosecutors. The illegal practice went on from at least 2012 through 2015. It was sold in grocery stores like Harris Teeter and Farm Fresh.
When Casey pleaded guilty back in September, he admitted to prosecutors that the conspiracy started after a decline in the blue crab population made crab prices spike, and Casey’s Seafood couldn’t process enough Atlantic blue crab to meet customer demands.
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four years in federal prison and pay $15,000 in fines,
ReplyDeleteCasey and his workers falsely labeled at least 397,917 pounds of crab meat, with a retail value in the millions of dollars, according to prosecutors.
Wow 4 (time off, more like 2) years in club fed $15K fine for millions? who wouldn't love that deal.
Four years with no time off sounds about right but 15 thousand in fine should be 15 million. If he doesn't have the money strip him of everything he owns or will ever own.
ReplyDeleteA few months ago I got a call about this. It was a representative from Harris Teeter letting me know this happened and since I purchased the brand I was entitled to a store credit. It totaled over 90 dollars. Great customer service since I would have had no idea.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing this product in Sams Club and while at the seafood section a women asked me if I thought this product was a good buy. I told her not to trust it as many were using foreign product. This was back before the label restriction and many stores and restaurants were using this crap. It is still being imported by some on the Eastern Shore like Ruark.
ReplyDelete