Michael Duby of Juneau, Alaska, U.S.A. was sentenced to 10 years in jail with a five-and-a-half-year suspension by a state court.
The Alaska Department of Law filed multiple charges against Duby, including illegal catching and selling of fish, falsifying fish tickets, and selling clams without a permit or proper toxicology testing.
Duby will serve 4 and a half years in jail, pay a USD 20,000 (EUR 17,200) fine, and forfeit his commercial fishing license, according to a 15 May release by the Justice Department. The trial lasted three weeks, with a jury finding Duby guilty of three felony counts of falsifying business records with fish tickets, one felony count of third-degree misconduct with weapons, a misdemeanor illegal commercial fishing charge, and reckless endangerment with the sale of shellfish to a Fairbanks restaurant prior to toxicology testing, Alaska KTUU reported.
Duby was convicted for the eight charges of commercial fishing fraud in January. KTUU reported that Duby has a “history of poaching, selling illegal fish and game, and fraudulent reporting across multiple states” across two decades. Those charges included five felony fish and wildlife convictions.
Judge Larry Woolford called Duby a “worst offender” and “danger to the community” as a repeat offender” in a release by the department.
His record dates back to 2002 with the illegal hunting of birds in the U.S. state of Washington. In 2010, he was subject to a two-year investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and was charged with a double conviction for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and charged in Alaska state court with six misdemeanor violations of wildlife regulations.
He also worked as a fishing and hunting charter guide in Juneau and was caught illegally baiting black bears on his property, as well as falsifying hunting licenses and exceeding his halibut catch limit.
