Environmental Crimes Bulletin September 2023 Week 2

In this issue:

• United States v. Sarkon Y. Hanna, No. 2:23-CR-01879 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Zeaborn Shipmanagement (Singapore) PTE. LTD., et al., No. 3:23-CR-001661 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Denys Korotkiy, et al., Nos. 3:23-CR-01044, 3:22-CR-02762 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Gabriel Wu, No. 3:23-CR-00887 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson
• United States v. Kenneth Joseph Herrera, No. 3:23-CR-00076 (W.D. Wisc.), ECS Trial Attorney Mark Romley and AUSA Chad Elgersma

United States v. Sarkon Y. Hanna, No. 2:23-CR-01879 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson

On September 12, 2023, prosecutors filed an information charging Sarkon Y. Hanna with smuggling three baby monkeys into the United States from Mexico (18 U.S.C. § 545). The Mexican spider monkey is an endangered species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species. Hanna did not possess the necessary documents for these animals.

On August 14, 2023, Customs and Border Patrol (CBP) officers stopped a man and woman attempting to drive a van into the United States from Mexico. During an initial inspection, a CBP officer discovered an animal carrier hidden behind the rear seat that contained live monkeys. The CBP officer referred the occupants and vehicle for a secondary examination. Officers found a total of three live, baby spider monkeys hidden in the van. The officers seized the monkeys and placed them in quarantine.

The Department of Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation.

United States v. Zeaborn Shipmanagement (Singapore) PTE. LTD., et al., No. 3:23-CR-001661 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson

On September 13, 2023, a court sentenced Zeaborn Shipmanagement (Singapore) PTE LTD. (Zeaborn), Captain Alexander Parreno, and Chief Engineer Constancio Estuye. Zeaborn will pay a $1.5 million fine and make a $500,000 community service payment. The company also will complete a four-year term of probation and implement an environmental compliance plan. Parreno and Estuye will pay $2,000 fines; Parreno will complete a one-year term of probation and Estuye will serve two months’ incarceration. The defendants pleaded guilty to maintaining false and incomplete records relating to the discharge of oily bilge water and garbage on board the vessel Star Maia (33 U.S.C. § 1908(a)).

The defendants illegally burned garbage in barrels onboard the Star Maia and disposed the burnt garbage and barrels directly into the ocean. They illegally discharged oily bilge water from the ship’s engine room directly onto the ocean without using approved pollution prevention equipment. In October 2022, the crew failed to accurately record these disposals in the vessel’s garbage and oil record books as required by U.S. and international law.

The U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service conducted the investigation.

United States v. Denys Korotkiy, et al., Nos. 3:23-CR-01044, 3:22-CR-02762 (S.D. Calif.), ECS Senior Trial Attorney Stephen DaPonte and AUSA Melanie Pierson

On September 15, 2023, a court sentenced Denys Korotkiy to 12 months’ and one day of incarceration. In June 2023, a jury convicted the chief engineer of conspiracy to obstruct justice, obstruction of justice, and failure to maintain an accurate oil record book (18 U.S.C. §§ 371, 1519; 33 U.S.C. § 1908(a)).

Korotkiy worked as a chief engineer aboard the Liberian-flagged M/V Donald. Authorities scheduled the vessel for a routine Port State Control examination at the port of San Diego on May 31, 2022. Days before their visit, Coast Guard inspectors received information from the ship’s second engineer that Korotkiy had ordered crewmembers to pump oily bilge water directly from the vessel’s bilge to the sewage tank for discharge into the sea, bypassing the required pollution prevention equipment.

On May 30, 2022, at the direction of a corporate shore side manager, Korotkiy destroyed the vessel’s sounding sheets to prevent inspectors from examining them. These records recorded the actual amounts of oil residue, oily mixtures, and machinery space bilge water, as well as sewage, accumulated onboard the vessel. Crewmembers also failed to record accurate information in the oil record book, including the transfers of machinery space bilge water from the bilge to the sewage tank and the illegal bilge water discharges.

Interunity Management (Deutschland) GMBH, the vessel’s corporate operator, pleaded guilty to one count of failing to maintain an accurate oil record book. The company was sentenced to pay a $937,500 fine and to make a $312,500 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Fund. The company will complete a four-year term of probation and implement an environmental compliance plan.

The U.S. Coast Guard conducted the investigation.

United States v. Gabriel Wu, No. 3:23-CR-00887 (S.D. Calif.), AUSA Melanie Pierson

On September 15, 2023, Zifeng Wu, aka Gabriel Wu, pleaded guilty to smuggling fish and wildlife into the United States, including Totoaba swim bladders, seahorses, sea cucumbers, and Hawksbill sea turtles between June 2016 and April 2022 (18 U.S.C. § 545). Sentencing is scheduled for December 4, 2023.

Wu paid other co-conspirators in Mexico to smuggle the protected fish and wildlife into the United States, concealed in their vehicles among tools used for labor. He also purchased protected fish and wildlife, and arranged to transport and sell them to customers in the Los Angeles area and elsewhere, including Asia.

During the search of Wu’s home, agents discovered more than $600,000 in cash and $400,000 worth of illegal wildlife.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations and Customs and Border Protection conducted the investigation.

United States v. Kenneth Joseph Herrera, No. 3:23-CR-00076 (W.D. Wisc.), ECS Trial Attorney Mark Romley and AUSA Chad Elgersma

On September 15, 2023, Kenneth Joseph Herrera pleaded guilty to violating the Animal Crush statute (18 U.S.C. § 48). Sentencing is scheduled for December 20, 2023.

For a period of eighteen months in 2021 and 2022, Herrera was part of a group known as “Million Tears.” The members of Million Tears aggregated money to send to videographers in Indonesia. The videographers would physically and sexually abuse monkeys and capture the acts on video, which were then sent to members of Million Tears. As part of the plea agreement, Herrera will admit that he commissioned one such video from Indonesia, received it, and then distributed it to group members.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement and the Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation.

Environmental Crimes Bulletin