"The problem it became was a business decision," Ciulla said. "It was not prudent to spend that much money on litigation."
The settlement marks a new course for NOAA law enforcement. The negotiations were taken out of the hands of Charles Juliand, who heads the Gloucester office, and Deirdre Casey, who built the case against the auction. Instead, the talks were removed to NOAA headquarters where Lois Schiffer was recently installed as chief counsel.