A Gardena seafood dealer who imported endangered whale meat from Tokyo and sold it to Santa Monica eatery The Hump and other sushi restaurants in the Southland will plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge, according to reports.
Ginichi Y. Ohira, 50, was charged in Los Angeles federal court with knowingly selling a marine mammal product for an unauthorized purpose, in violation of the federal Marine Mammal Protection Act.
Specifically, Ohira sold protected sei whale meat to The Hump at the Santa Monica Airport, which closed its doors last year after federal prosecutors charged the owner and a chef with sales of the federally-protected mammal, according to court documents obtained by City News Service.
Read the complete story from The Santa Monica Daily Press.