A vp of a Miami-based seafood wholesaler has pleaded responsible to collaborating in a multi-year conspiracy to repair costs for stone crab claws and spiny lobster, the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Southern District of Florida introduced on Thursday.
Dennis Dopico, of Miami, admitted in court docket on September 16 to conspiring with opponents between 2023 and 2025 to suppress competitors by coordinating the costs paid to fishermen for his or her harvests. In line with court docket paperwork, the scheme depressed funds to fishermen and affected roughly $8 million in commerce.
“Worth fixing cheats fishermen, squeezes eating places, and makes households pay extra on the desk,” stated U.S. Legal professional Jason A. Reding Quiñones. Appearing Deputy Assistant Legal professional Basic Omeed Assefi added that the conspiracy “unfairly took cash out of the pockets of hardworking fishermen for years.”
Investigators revealed that Dopico and his co-conspirators exchanged textual content messages and cellphone calls to coordinate costs and regulate them all through harvest seasons. In a single alternate, Dopico informed a competitor, “Don’t present textual content to anybody. Confidential,” to which the co-conspirator replied, “We’re working collectively not in opposition to one another.”
Dopico pleaded responsible to 1 felony rely of restraining commerce by conspiring to repair costs, a violation of the Sherman Act. He faces a most penalty of 10 years in jail and a $1 million felony effective, although fines could be elevated to twice the acquire or loss from the crime if larger than the statutory restrict.
Sentencing is about for January 5, 2026, earlier than a federal district court docket decide. The case stays beneath investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
