A Bellevue, Wash.-based seafood vendor on Monday was charged with two felony counts in U.S. District Court in Seattle for selling thousands of pounds of mislabeled fish, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.
Kevin Steele, president and owner of Mallard Cove Resources, was charged with violating the Lacey Act and selling misbranded foods.
Documents filed by the U.S. Attorney's Office allege that over a three-year period beginning in 2003, Steele sold thousands of pounds of fish labeled as halibut that was actually Greenland turbot, also referred to as Greenland halibut, imported from China.
According to the documents, Steele repackaged the Chinese turbot and labeled it as halibut caught in the United States or Russia, before selling it at higher prices.