East Hampton harbormaster charged with illegal fishing

It never ceases to amaze me how some people think they are above the law.



An East Hampton town harbormaster whose family has fished off the East End for several generations faces charges of illegal fishing, the state Department of Environmental Conservation said Wednesday.

Daniel Lester of East Hampton caught or sold more than $4,000 worth of fish out of season or without a permit from 2007 through last year, a DEC spokeswoman said.
Despite the charges, Lester remains on the job and has not resigned, Chief Harbormaster Ed Michels said.
Town Supervisor William Wilkinson declined to comment, an aide said.

Lester could not be reached to comment.
Lester's family,
including his late father, Calvin, are local legends, Michels said. "If you say commercial baymen in East Hampton, it's the Lesters," he said.

Lester was charged last June with a violation for fishing for summer flounder, also known as fluke, without a commercial permit after he was seen catching the fish in Gardiners Bay off Montauk, DEC spokeswoman Aphrodite Montalvo said. He pleaded guilty and paid a $500 fine, she said.

After reviewing the records of fish dealers with whom Lester did business, the DEC on Monday charged him with two felonies: taking and selling more than $1,500 worth of summer flounder without a commercial permit in 2009, and taking more than $1,500 worth of scup - or porgy - out of season in 2008.
Lester faces five misdemeanor charges of illegally catching and selling between $250 and $1,500 worth of fluke or scup in 2008 and 2009.

He will be charged with another felony, illegally selling summer flounder in 2007, when he is arraigned Feb. 24 in East Hampton Town Court.

If convicted of the felonies, Lester could face a maximum penalty of a $10,000 fine for each count and/or more than a year in prison, Montalvo said.

The maximum penalty for the misdemeanor charges is $5,000 and/or one year in prison, she said.

He will be out of a job once he gets convicted. Hopefully this bars him from ever retaining a commercial license or working at all in the commercial fishing business.

They should take his pension away too. He abused the trust of the people who hired him. The hell with him.:burn:

You know the charges they got on him are just the tip of the iceberg. There's probably a lot more he did than that. Throw the book at him.

This guy is a real dirtbag, now he wants to make this a test case. I hope his lawyer charges the ******* $500.hr.:2flip:

Newsday: East Hampton fishermen back in court to fight charges
2010-04-02 01:08:50.980 GMT


By Mark Harrington
Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Apr. 1--Two East Hampton brothers who are fighting felony
fishing-related charges returned to court Thursday, surrounded
by two dozen supporters and a lawyer who said he is determined
to make this a test case against fishing regulations.
The case in East Hampton Town Justice Court charges Daniel
and Paul Lester with fishing for more than $1,500 worth of
fluke and porgies without permits and out of season. The
misdemeanor and felony charges could bring jail time, said
their lawyer, Daniel Rodgers, of Riverhead, who said he expects
a "long, hard fight."
Town attorneys received an extension in court Thursday to
bring the case on April 22.
Regulators and environmentalists say the rules are needed
to rebuild depleted fish stocks. Rodgers said most stocks are
rebuilt and the quotas need to be updated.
Daniel Lester, 36, an East Hampton bay constable, and Paul
Lester, 30, are sons of the late Calvin Lester, a renowned
fisherman who fought restrictions on striped bass fishing.
Outside court, Rodgers said he intends to make this a test
case to push back against decades of tightening regulations and
enforcement that he says are crippling a legendary Long Island
industry.
"Their behavior has been criminalized with the actions of
the DEC," he said of the state Department of Environmental
Conservation, which polices fishing and brought the charges.
"That has to stop and it will stop."
The DEC has pointed to cases in which it has supported
local fishermen in minimizing the impact of federal fishing
restrictions.
"We're always looking to make sure people are abiding by
the limits that are set," DEC marine enforcement unit captain
Dorothy Thumm said last month. "It's a way of protecting other
fishermen."
Supporters at the courthouse included fishermen and their
families, including two children sporting "Danny Lester"
T-shirts.
One notable backer was Stuart Vorpahl, a retired East
Hampton fisherman who waged an unsuccessful 12-year battle
against the state for his right to fish without licenses.
"The foundation of this whole mess is that our station in
life is to provide food for people, and now the government is
making criminals of all of us," he said.

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I love how every time he makes the papers, he sounds more like an idiot than the last time.

I can bet he won't do any jail time but they should revoke his license for good. Then next year when he is out breaking the law by fishing again, toss him in jail. A guy like this will never stop dong this kind of thing because he thinks he is correct in his own eyes.