Seafood dealer bought 2,400 pounds of fish at illegal parking lot markets, feds say
A Georgia man accused of buying more than 2,400 pounds of fish and hauling his catch across state lines is barred from dealing seafood for the next five years, federal officials say.
Cuong D. Bui was sentenced Friday, Sept. 23, to five years probation and fined $25,000 after federal authorities said he traveled through Georgia, Florida and Alabama to purchase fish illegally from interstate parking lots, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Office of Law Enforcement.
In all, prosecutors said he bought “more than $14,000 worth of fish” to sell in his unlicensed seafood operation while ignoring federal laws and heath codes. Among them was the Lacey Act, a sweeping conservation law that prohibits the illegal sale and trade of wildlife, including fish.
“Aware of his illegal activity, Mr. Bui regularly changed the meeting locations of his illegal fish purchases,” authorities said. “He even concocted fake stories to deceive federal and state agents.”
Authorities did not say how long Bui ran the unlawful operation or if anyone else was involved.
The sentence comes about three months after Bui pleaded guilty to illegally buying and peddling snapper and king mackerel caught by recreational fishers, NOAA said. A two-year joint investigation by the administration’s Office of Law Enforcement and Department of Natural Resources officials in Georgia and Alabama found 2,434 pounds of illegal fish they said Bui purchased.
During their investigation, officials said Bui advised undercover agents to lie and say they were headed to a birthday bash if they were stopped by law enforcement while headed to sell their illegal catch.
“If you tell them that, they won’t say nothing. … Good luck, try to catch a lot for me,” Bui said, according to authorities.
It isn’t the first time Bui has been accused of dealing fish without a license. In 2021, he was sentenced to a year of probation after he pleaded guilty to charges related to the dumping of nearly 500 pounds of blue crabs into Bibb Pond, the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported.
Bui, the owner of a now-shuttered business called S-Mart, and an employee were both charged, according to the newspaper. Authorities later dropped charges against the worker.
This story was originally published September 29, 2022 at 12:42 PM with the headline "Seafood dealer bought 2,400 pounds of fish at illegal parking lot markets, feds say."