A New Jersey man has found out that the tasty Florida spiny lobster can be expensive

KEY WEST, May 24, 2018 – Glenn Michael Kingsbury, 49, who has a second home in Key West, was convicted in a trial by court May 22 before Monroe County Court Judge Mark Wilson of nine counts of possessing undersized lobster. His fine: $2,700, or $300 per lobster. He also received six months of probation with adjudication withheld.

In addition, he must pay the costs of the investigation, prosecution and court costs, plus complete a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission marine-resource course.

Prosecuting the case was Assistant State Attorney Marisa Rose Faraldo Tedesco assisted by Assistant State Attorney Christina Cory.

On July 27, 2017, Kingsbury was on his 22-foot Sea Fox boat with four other people, three adults and one juvenile. A U.S. Coast Guard crew had stopped him for a safety check about a quarter mile outside Boca Chica Channel in the Lower Keys. Shortly after, FWC Officer Johnathan Hettel was dispatched to Kingsbury’s boat because the Coast Guard crew reported there were nine undersized lobsters on the vessel, according to Hettel’s report.

In Florida, for lobster to be legally harvested, they must have at least a 3-inch carapace, or shell.

Hettel testified that he and Kingsbury each navigated to calmer waters for the investigation. Hettel measured the lobsters, five of them dead and four alive in buckets on Kingsbury’s boat, with his state-issued measuring device and all “came up short,” he testified. He put the lobsters back in the water.

Asked “who wants to take responsibility for the lobster,” Kingsbury replied, “They’re mine,” Hettel said.

Kingsbury’s attorney, Dustin Hunter, argued that Kingsbury’s possession of the lobsters was not independently established and that he said “they’re mine” merely to protect everyone else on the boat from getting in trouble. He also argued his client did not have “actual possession” of the lobsters, meaning they were not on his person.

But Wilson found that Kingsbury had “constructive and joint possession” of the lobsters, meaning they were in his area of control. He also noted Kingsbury said “they’re mine” when Hettel asked who was responsible for the lobsters.

Florida’s recreational and commercial lobster season runs from Aug. 6 to March 31. An early two-day mini-season takes place the last Wednesday and Thursday of each July. The limit in both seasons for Monroe County is six lobsters per person per day.

Contact: Public Information Officer Larry Kahn, (305) 289-2899.

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