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PRESSURE ON TO IMPRISON
POACHERS
Published on April 1, 1998
© 1998- The
Press Democrat
BYLINE: Clark Mason
Staff
Writer
PAGE: B1
Three men accused of running the biggest illegal
abalone operation in North Coast history are scheduled
to be sentenced in court Thursday as pressure mounts to ensure
they are given prison terms.
The Sonoma County Probation Department is recommending
no prison time for the trio, which has dismayed some
conservationists, sports divers and Fish and Game officials
who are concerned about the diminishing abalone
resource.
They say there is increasing poaching pressure in Northern
California as a result of a moratorium on commercial
harvesting south of San Francisco.
``We think the North Coast will be a real target,''
said George Lawry, head of the Sonoma County Abalone
Network. ``Letting these guys down softly is not the message
to be sending at this time.''
Lawry said he expects at least 30 people supporting a
prison commitment will show up in court Thursday morning when
the trio is sentenced by Superior Court Judge Lawrence Gary
Antolini.
The three defendants, Christopher Doan, 30, of
Cupertino, Jason Diep, 31, of El Monte, and Loi Boa Diep, 30,
of Rosemead, pleaded guilty in December to conspiracy to buy
sport abalone and sell it for commercial purposes.
When they were arrested following a sting operation in
May 1997, authorities seized one and a quarter tons of
abalone, what Sonoma County Deputy District Attorney
Brooke Halsey Jr. described as ``the largest one-time seizure
of illegal abalone in state history.''
But defense attorneys say the claims against the
defendants are wildly exaggerated.
Santa Rosa attorney Joseph Stogner, who represents
Jason Diep, said the allegations made by the prosecution in
its attempt to get the maximum three-year prison term for the
Dieps are ``incredibly trumped up.''
Stogner said that more than half of the estimated 3,000
abalone that were seized had nothing to do with the
three men, but came from other establishments.
Stogner said sending the men to prison ``would be very
very unjust in light of their completely clean records and the
fact they were caught up in sting operations.''
The Sonoma County Probation Department is recommending
fines of up to $40,000 for each of the Dieps, a three-year
suspended prison sentence and one year in the county jail.
Doan, who was described as more of a middleman, is
recommended for an eight-month jail sentence.
An undercover sting operation was set up by Fish and
Game wardens, one of whom posed as a sports diver willing to
provide the Dieps with large amounts of illegally harvested
abalone from the North Coast.
Prosecutor Halsey said there is no way to determine the
``tons'' of abalone that the defendants illegally
obtained from the North Coast, but said the evidence is clear
they had been operating in Sonoma County for a number of years
and boasted they could buy boat loads of abalone
illegally harvested from the North Coast.
Authorities said during the undercover operation
conducted by a Fish and Game warden, the two Dieps described
buying Mexican abalone in large quantities and mixing
North Coast abalone in to make them appear legitimate.
Stogner acknowledged that the Dieps did not have their
paperwork in perfect order for importing and exporting
seafood, but ``they had a license obtained late in the game
and were trying to operate legitimately.'
Prosecutors said the case against the trio grew out of
the investigation that led to the Sonoma County conviction of
abalone poacher Van Howard Johnson -- known as ``Ho
Jo'' -- who was given a three-year prison term in 1996 for his
part as mastermind of a large illegal operation that
supposedly raked in more than $1 million.
Keywords: FISHING CRIME
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