A Livingston County man is facing five years of probation and hefty fines for a Lacey Act violation involving the illegal harvesting and sale of shovelnose sturgeon roe.
According to a news release from the United States Attorney’s Office with the Western District of Kentucky, 52-year-old Charles Hopkins of Livingston was sentenced to five years of probation for conspiring with others to sell shovelnose sturgeon that had been harvested in violation of Kentucky law. Hopkins was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine to the Lacey Act Reward Account and $348,613 in restitution to the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.
The Lacey Act makes it unlawful for any person to transport and sell fish that were taken in violation of any law or regulation of any state. Kentucky regulates fishing for sturgeon and its eggs, which are marketed as caviar. A violation of the Lacey Act constitutes a felony if the fish had a market value in excess of $350.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.