Colorado Man Sentenced for Illegally Trafficking in Paddlefish

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Colorado man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally trafficking in paddlefish caviar after being caught in an undercover operation in the Warsaw, Mo., area.

In support of Missouri’s paddlefish conservation efforts, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation conducted a covert investigation, “Operation Roadhouse,” centered on an area known as the Roadhouse in Warsaw. As part of the covert operation, state and federal officers operated a paddlefish snagging business. Covert officers also sold paddlefish to people who were interested in buying them.

Felix Baravik, 49, of Aurora, Colorado, was sentenced by U.S. Magistrate Judge Matt J. Whitworth to three years of probation and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine. The first three months of probation will be served as home detention, and Baravik shall not fish, or accompany anyone fishing, anywhere in the world during the term of his probation. Baravik must also perform 500 hours of community service.

On Aug. 20, 2014, Baravik pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of illegally trafficking in paddlefish, in violation of the Lacey Act.

Baravik admitted that he traveled from Colorado to Missouri on April 16, 2012. On that day, he and his co-conspirators met with covert Fish and Wildlife Service agents posing as fishermen who had a boat, which they were going to use to fish for paddlefish. During that conversation, conspirators exchanged telephone numbers with the covert agents and Baravik told the covert agents to call if they caught a paddlefish. Conspirators purchased two female paddlefish from the covert agents. Conspirators also purchased three more female paddlefish from other sources and harvested paddlefish in excess of the Missouri take and possession limits. They processed the eggs from all of those paddlefish into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado.

Co-defendants Arkadiy Lvovskiy, 54, of Aurora, Colo., and Dmitri Elitchev, 49, of Centennial, Colo., have pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to illegally traffic in paddlefish and paddlefish eggs in violation of the Lacey Act. Co-defendant Artour Magdessian, 48, of Lone Tree, Colo., pleaded guilty to trafficking in paddlefish and paddlefish eggs in violation of the Lacey Act.

Lvovskiy and Elitchev admitted that in April 2011 they traveled to Warsaw, where they illegally purchased five female paddlefish and a container of paddlefish eggs. They processed the eggs from all of those paddlefish into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado.  Lvovskiy and Elitchev also admitted that they returned to Warsaw in March 2012 and purchased eight more female paddlefish. They processed the eggs into caviar and transported them from Missouri to Colorado. Lvovskiy, Elitchev, and Magdessian again traveled to Warsaw in April 2012 with Baravik.

The retail value of the paddlefish caviar at issue in this case is estimated to be between $30,000 and $50,000.

The Lacey Act

The Lacey Act is a federal statute which makes it unlawful for any person to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire or purchase fish that were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any state, or to attempt to do so. Such conduct constitutes a felony crime if the defendant knowingly engaged in conduct involving the purchase or sale, offer to purchase or sell, or intent to purchase or sell, fish with a market value in excess of $350, knowing that the fish were taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of, or in a manner unlawful under, a law or regulation of any state.

Paddlefish Trafficking

The American paddlefish (Polydon spathula), also called the Mississippi paddlefish or the “spoonbill,” is a freshwater fish that is primarily found in the Mississippi River drainage system.  Paddlefish eggs are marketed as caviar. Paddlefish were once common in waters throughout the Midwest.  However, the global decline in other caviar sources, such as sturgeon, has led to an increased demand for paddlefish caviar. This increased demand has led to over-fishing of paddlefish, and consequent decline of the paddlefish population.

Missouri law prohibits the transportation of paddlefish eggs which have been removed or extracted from a paddlefish carcass. Missouri law also prohibits the sale or purchase, or offer of sale or purchase, of paddlefish eggs. There are also several restrictions on the purchase and possession of whole paddlefish in Missouri.

This case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney James B. Nelson of the Department of Justice’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri. It was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Missouri Department of Conservation, with assistance by the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation.