Two Miami men will wind up in jail after fishing violations in the Florida Keys
If police in the Florida Keys catch you with too many spiny lobsters, or they’re undersized, or the snapper you caught and put in your cooler is too small or out-of-season, there’s a good chance you’ll serve some time in jail.
Two Miami-Dade County men found this out earlier this week.
Michel Perez Pineda, 23, of Hialeah, pleaded no contest to three misdemeanor fisheries charges, and Monroe County Judge Sharon Hamilton sentenced him Wednesday to six days in county jail (10 days with four suspended), which he will serve on weekends.
Hamilton also sentenced him to 12 months of probation, during which time he cannot enter Florida Keys waters, and 50 hours of community service. She also fined him $500, ordered him to pay $248 in court costs and $75 to prosecutors.
Pineda’s attorney, Albert Quirantes, on Friday said his client did not deserve such a sentence.
“It is a very harsh sentence for a first-time offender with no previous contact with the criminal justice system,” Qurirantes said. “He’s completely clean.”
Two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission police officers arrested Pineda on July 28, 2019, near Tea Table Relief Bridge in Islamorada. They said he had an undersized schoolmaster snapper, one undersized mangrove snapper and an out-of-season spiny lobster.
The minimum size limit by state law for both fish is 10 inches. The schoolmaster Pineda caught was 9 inches, and the mangrove was 8 inches, according to the State Attorney’s Office.
“He was confused,” Quirantes said. “He wasn’t out there poaching a large amount of fish.”
Monroe County State Attorney Dennis Ward, who won reelection in November, made seeking stiff penalties for wildlife violations in the Keys a top priority of his administration.
“We’ve tried over the years to reduce the illegal and unlawful taking of fish and wildlife by fines, educational classes and probation,” Ward said Friday. “The only thing that seems to work is jail time.”
Also on Wednesday, Rodolfo Rafael Gonzalez, 47, pleaded no contest to seven misdemeanor counts of possessing undersized fish.
FWC officers said they performed a vessel inspection of Gonzalez’s boat on July 25, 2019, on Snake Creek in Islamorada and found him with 12 spiny lobsters, seven of which were too small to keep.
Hamilton sentenced him to 10 days in county jail (30 days, with 10 suspended), which he can serve on the weekends, with the same fines as she gave Pineda. He was also sentenced to a year probation and ordered to serve 16 hours of community service.
Gonzalez’s lawyer, David Vega, said he understands the importance of laws to protect the Keys environment and conserve its natural resources. But, he also said he believes there should be more educational resources to inform first-time offenders like his client about the penalties of violating the rules in the Keys.
“There should be more education about the rules and the severity associated with the penalties to curtail a lot of these cases and to prevent first-time offenders from going to jail,” Vega said.
This story was originally published February 26, 2021 at 5:03 PM.
