September 24, 2018 — Carlos Rafael sits in federal prison, nearing the end of the first year of his 46-month sentence for bulk smuggling and lying for at least four years about the nature and value of his landings.
But that doesn’t mean NOAA is done with the man known as “The Codfather” or many of his vessel captains.
The federal fisheries regulator has updated the civil case against the convicted fishing mogul, more than doubling the number of violations to 88, seeking to revoke 42 of Rafael’s federal fishing permits and increasing the total amount of civil penalties against Rafael, his partners and some of his captains to $3,356,269 from the $983,528 contained in the original charging document.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also said it will seek to prevent “Rafael or his agents” from applying for any NOAA permits in the future.
The new charging document also takes aim at the vessel captains that ran Rafael’s fleet throughout his era of malfeasance.