March 25, 2009
For more information contact:
Managing Assistant U.S. Attorney Dixie A. Morrow
(850) 444-4000
PANAMA CITY MAN SENTENCED FOR POSSESSION OF EXPLOSIVES, ATTEMPTED TAKING OF MARINE MAMMALS
Panama City, Florida - United States Attorney Thomas F. Kirwin, Northern District of Florida, announced today that Garry Alvin Key, also known as “Alvy Stancle Key, Jr.” 50, Panama City, Florida, was sentenced by United States District Judge Richard Smoak to a total of 24 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.
On January 14, 2009, Key entered a plea of guilty to a two-count federal indictment charging him with possession of explosives by a convicted felon and unlawfully taking or attempting to take marine mammals, specifically, dolphins. The investigation leading to Key’s conviction began in May 2008, when Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials received reports that Key was manufacturing pipe bombs and using them to kill dolphins. Key, a prior convicted felon and captain of the “WBS” fishing vessel, admitted at the time of his guilty plea that he manufactured pipe bombs and threw them at dolphins to frighten them away from his fishing lines. Facts presented during the plea hearing revealed that authorities stopped “WBS” as it was heading out to sea for a fishing trip on August 16, 2008. Key was onboard the vessel as captain. A search of the vessel produced galvanized end caps, black powder, and fuses, which Key admitted belonged to him and which he explained he used with pipes to manufacture and detonate bombs.
This case was investigated by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the Border Patrol Marine Unit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney J. Ryan Love.