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7 SUSPECTS IN ABALONE POACHING RING
ARRAIGNED DEFENDANTS FACE CONSPIRACY TRIAL
Published on October 13, 1994
© 1994- The
Press Democrat
BYLINE: Bony
Saludes
Staff Writer
PAGE: B1
Seven suspects in what has been called the biggest
commercial abalone poaching operation in California
were arraigned Wednesday and banned from the Sonoma County
coast.
Municipal Court Judge Cerena Wong also barred the
defendants from possessing diving equipment and ordered them
to submit to warrantless searches pending their trial on
felony conspiracy charges.
State Fish and Game officials said the Santa Rosa-based
ring for months shipped tons of abalone from the Sonoma
County coast to a commercial fish buyer in San Diego. State
law prohibits the possession of more than four abalone
and they must be at least 7 inches.
The operation was smashed primarily with the help of a
confidential informant who infiltrated the group and reported
the activities to authorities, according to court documents.
Santa Rosa lawyer Jonathan Steele, who appeared with
two of the alleged ringleaders, Eddie and Debra Blay of Santa
Rosa, said the police reports indicate to him the operation
wasn't as big as ``initially depicted'' by the authorities.
``I've gotten their reports,'' Steele said. ``A lot of
the information is coming from the informant, who may have
been working off his own problem.''
Steele added, ``I think when it all comes out, the
story will be different. I don't think it was as large a scale
as they've previously said it was.''
Deputy District Attorney Brooke Halsey Jr. had earlier
moved to increase the bails of Eddie and Debra Blay as well as
that of Van Howard Johnson, who is accused of buying the
abalone in San Diego. But instead Halsey asked Wong to
impose restrictions on the defendants.
Also arraigned were Jerry Wade Mitchell, Paul Scott
Saunders and Michael David Kagley, all divers from Santa Rosa,
and Randall Lee Blay, a driver from Redding.
They were ordered back to court Oct. 31 for entry of
plea. All are free on $5,000 bail each.
Four owners of a Santa Rosa restaurant who are charged
with conspiracy, allegedly for buying illegal abalone
from undercover fish and game agents, also were arraigned.
Their cases were continued to Oct. 31.
Kin Lai and his wife, Sally Lai, and Yick Pang and his
wife, Xioa Pang, owners of the China Garden, are free on
$10,000 bail each.
A warrant was issued for the arrest of Jin Sun Gee, 73,
of Sebastopol who failed to appear before Municipal Court
Judge Frank Passalacqua on misdemeanor violations of Fish and
Game laws. Gee, a former restaurant owner, allegedly bought
illegal abalone from undercover agents.
Keywords: FISH
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