U.S. v. Winkler

Government, N.Y. have Vested Interest in Overharvested Fish Supporting Mail Fraud Charge

Thank you for sharing!

Your article was successfully shared with the contacts you provided.

ORDER Defendant Christopher Winkler (“Winkler”) is charged in a five-count Superseding Indictment, (ECF No. 46), with Conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. §371 (Count One); Mail Fraud in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1341 (Counts Two and Three); and Obstruction in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1519 (Counts Four and Five). Winkler now moves to dismiss the mail fraud object of Count One, Object (c), along with the substantive mail fraud charges in Counts Two and Three; and the substantive obstruction charges in Counts Four and Five.¹ (ECF No. 61.) In addition, Winkler asks the Court to set dates for (i) disclosure of 404(b) evidence, (ii) filing of motions in limine, (iii) disclosure of the Government’s exhibit list, (iv) expert disclosures, and (v) disclosure of 3500 material. (Id.) For the following reasons, the motion to dismiss is denied in its entirety, and the Court declines at this time to set a schedule for the above-listed pretrial matters. I. MOTION TO DISMISS A. Mail Fraud Counts The Superseding Indictment alleges that from 2014 to 2017, Winkler, a fishing captain and licensed National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (“NOAA”) operator of the fishing vessel “New Age,” harvested more than 220,000 pounds of fish in excess of the amounts permitted by applicable law, and subsequently filed false Fishing Vessel Trip Reports (“FVTRs”) failing to report that he landed fish in excess of applicable law. (Superseding Indictment at

1, 14(a).) Count One, Object (c) alleges that Winkler conspired to “defraud NOAA and the State of New York of fish and the fair market value thereof, and to obtain money and property from NOAA and the State of New York by means of materially false and fraudulent pretenses and representations[.]” (Id. 13(c).) Counts Two and Three allege that Winkler harvested fish in excess of the amounts permitted by applicable law, and that to conceal his overharvesting, he mailed false FVTRs to NOAA between May 18, 2016 and June 24, 2016 (Count Two), and between January 26, 2017 and February 8, 2017 (Count Three). (Id.

U.S. v. Winkler

Government, N.Y. have Vested Interest in Overharvested Fish Supporting Mail Fraud Charge

Share with Email

Thank you for sharing!

Trending Stories

More From ALM

Subscribe to New York Law Journal