Friday, April 3, 2009

A 50-year-old LaBelle house painter who pleaded guilty to taking part in one of the largest lobster poaching cases in the Florida Keys will not serve any jail time.

U.S. District Court Judge Jose Martinez on Thursday sentenced John Niles to one year's probation for his role in the case. The undercover investigation, Operation Freezer Burn, landed about 1,800 lobsters, wrung lobster tails and frozen lobsters, worth at least $85,000, according to testimony during a co-defendant's trial this week.

Niles will not pay any fines because the judge ruled he did not have any money, prosecutors said.

Niles pleaded guilty in January to one count of conspiracy to harvest illegal lobster as part of a plea agreement that called for him to testify against Michael Delph, a Key West charter fisherman and firefighter. He testified Tuesday, the day before Delph was found guilty.

Niles, the first of six co-defendants to be sentenced in the case, faced a maximum five-year prison term and $250,000 in fines.

Robert Hammer, a former Key West charter boat captain, and Sean Reyngoudt of Summerland Key are scheduled to be sentenced on June 1. David Dreifort and his wife, Denise Dreifort, as well as Delph, are scheduled to be sentenced June 10.

The lobster operation was spearheaded by the Dreiforts, according to prosecutors and testimony at Delph's trial.

Hammer also testified against Delph and it appears he will not face the full five years in prison and $250,000 in fines as well, though that decision still is in the hands of Martinez, the presiding judge over each defendant. The Dreiforts agreed to testify against Delph as part of their plea agreements, but were never called.

Reyngoudt was not mentioned in Delph's trial, as he was not with the other defendants on Aug. 6, the first day of commercial lobster season, when they were arrested. Reyngoudt took part in lobster harvesting with the Dreiforts at another time, according to prosecutors.

According to testimony at Delph's trial, the Dreiforts had hundreds of GPS coordinates pinpointing man-made underwater structures called casitas or condos. Boats belonging to the Dreiforts were used during the lobster harvesting and most of the lobsters were stored at the Dreiforts' Lookdown Lane home on Cudjoe Key.

Federal tactical officers carrying assault rifles raided the Dreiforts' home on Aug. 6, just as the conspirators were arriving in one of the Dreiforts' boats.

Federal agents in a helicopter had been surveilling the boat, the home and an unnamed informant's home where some of the lobster were stored, according to testimony.

alinhardt@keysnews.com