Gulf Coast Business Owner Pleads Guilty To Illegal Interstate Seafood Conspiracy

Gulfport, Miss. - Khiem Dinh Vh, 56, of D’Iberville, Mississippi, an unlicensed wholesale seafood dealer who operated a business known as “Gulf Coast Seafood” in Jackson County, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Sul Ozerden to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which makes it unlawful to sell in interstate commerce any fish taken in violation of state law, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst,  Deputy Special Agent in Charge Manny Antonaras of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, and Acting Chief Kyle Wilkerson of the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Office of Marine Patrol.

Vu made his initial appearance and waived indictment earlier today before the Honorable Robert P. Myers, Jr., United States Magistrate Judge, at the federal courthouse in Gulfport. 

Pursuant to the Criminal Information, Vu pled guilty to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act by selling fish to seafood markets in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area.  Vu bought the seafood from commercial fishermen and other seafood dealers in Biloxi and Pass Christian, and then transported the seafood to the Atlanta area for resale without having a wholesale seafood dealer license, as required by Mississippi law.  As administered by the Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Mississippi regulates the seafood industry to preserve fish stocks and protect the local fishing market.

For the conspiracy charges, Vu faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release.  He will be sentenced by Judge Ozerden on December 3, 2020 at 10:00 a.m.

United States Attorney Hurst praised the efforts of the federal and state investigative agencies for their diligent work in the investigation of this matter.     The case was investigated by NOAA Office of Law Enforcement and Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gaines Cleveland.