U.S. taxpayers are footing the bill for seven years of litigation against Icicle Seafoods Inc. after high-ranking officials in the U.S. Commerce Department settled on a penalty of $615,000 on Jan. 31. This despite the fact that federal prosecutors twice won $3.44 million judgments for 82 violations of the American Fisheries Act.
The process of resolving the case in Icicle’s favor dates back to the first days in office for Jane Lubchenco, administrator of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Lubchenco was sworn in March 20, 2009, and issued an order on Icicle’s appeal 11 days later that instructed the presiding judge to reconsider half of the violations, as well as the overall size of the penalty.
The NOAA Office of General Counsel won’t say much about why it overruled a judge and its own enforcement staff by settling the Icicle case for pennies on the dollar, and neither will Lubchenco. It is NOAA General Counsel policy to not discuss settlement negotiations, and Lubchenco refused to answer several other questions not related to the negotiations.
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