BajaNews - 6-13-2006 at 02:12 PM
http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/14803048...
LOS ANGELES - A man who admitted smuggling in illegal immigrants and exotic fish from Mexico was sentenced Monday to nearly four years in federal
prison.
U.S. District Judge Gary A. Feess also ordered Craig Lightner, 41, of Los Angeles to pay a $60,000 fine.
Lightner pleaded guilty in September to smuggling in about 70 illegal immigrants and illegally shipping 160 Clarion angelfish, a species indigenous to
Mexico and protected under that country's law.
In his plea agreement, Lightner admitted that on two occasions he rented yachts to ferry immigrants from Ensenada, a coastal town about 70 miles south
of the U.S.-Mexico border, to the Port of Los Angeles. When a Coast Guard crew intercepted the yacht C'est La Vie on one of those trips, about 50
people were found stuffed in a cabin designed to sleep eight people, authorities said.
Two men who sailed the yacht were arrested and each pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy, prosecutors said. Gregory Ray LaBono was sentenced in
April to one year in prison, and Vernon Seigel Jr. received four months of home detention.
Authorities received a tip about the human smuggling scheme while investigating Lightner on the fish smuggling case, Assistant U.S. Attorney William
W. Carter said.
Lightner, who ran a fish importation business called The Honduras Connection, arranged for the fish to be shipped to Los Angeles International Airport
in May 2004 without declaring them to federal authorities.
Clarion angelfish, which are prized for their rarity and their brilliant orange color, can cost up to $2,000 each.