October 6, 2014 — On Friday, the state issued a cease and desist order to Joe Vaudo, owner of the Sandwich retailer and wholesaler whose business received stolen oysters last year. The Department of Public Health moved to revoke the business’ license to buy and sell seafood.
The owner of Joe’s Lobster Mart has dug in his heels and plans to fight on.
On Friday, the state issued a cease and desist order to Joe Vaudo, owner of the Sandwich retailer and wholesaler whose business received stolen oysters last year. The Department of Public Health moved to revoke the business’ license to buy and sell seafood.
(Michael Bryant, the alleged thief who brought the oysters to Vaudo, was sentenced to two years in prison for the shellfish theft.)
Vaudo isn’t going down without a fight. This weekend, according to The Cape Cod Times, he answered by securing an injunction.
Vaudo stood behind the market’s counter on Saturday afternoon while seven customers waited in line.
“We have an injunction against the state of Massachusetts right now,” Vaudo said, holding the paperwork in his hands. “That’s why we’re open. We plan on staying open.”
The DPH decision came after Vaudo made an unsuccessful appeal of the revocation.
In March, after a months-long investigation, Vaudo pleaded guilty to receiving stolen oysters, and was forced to pay more than $6,000 as part of the plea agreement.
But that wasn’t the end of it.
Vaudo’s guilty plea saved him from further criminal proceedings. It didn’t save him from the wrath of the state’s Department of Public Health.
Read the full story from The Boston Globe