Two Keys men have pleaded guilty to poaching 8,500 pounds of lobster from illegally dumped debris piles known as ``casitas.''

John Buckheim and Nick Demauro, both 23 of Baypoint, admitted to harvesting the lobster, some before the season opened, and selling it to a Key West fish house for $45,000, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Miami.

The retail value of the tails was $155,000.

Beginning in the summer of 2008, the two men made more than 32 trips to catch lobster from casitas -- typically barrels, plastic pipes or other material that create shelter that draws lobster, the release said. It is illegal to place such artificial habitats in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary or to commercially harvest lobster from them.

To cover the operation, the release said, the men also paid $4,000 to lease commercial dive placards and licenses they used under false pretenses. Investigators said GPS tracks showed all the lobsters were plucked from illegal sites.

The men, who appeared Tuesday in federal court in Key West, face up to five years in prison and agreed to surrender all their navigation gear and data on the casitas.

They also agreed to forfeit a vehicle and vessel used in the scheme, or the cash equivalent.

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