Three Men Arrested for Theft and Commercial Fishing Violations in St. Bernard Parish

Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents and the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office arrested three men on Dec. 11 for allegedly selling stolen oysters among other commercial fishing violations.

Agents arrested Jerome Robin, 33, Daryl Robin, 32, and Richard Robin, 35, all of St. Bernard, for simple theft. Jerome Robin was also cited for possession of untagged oysters, violations of the state’s health code for refrigeration and falsifying the log sheet on the vessel. Richard Robin was also cited for selling seafood without a wholesale/retail dealer’s license.

Agents received a call from a private oyster lease holder about three men he hired to fish his oyster leases that were seen offloading nine sacks of his oysters without his permission. The Robin’s loaded the stolen sacks of oysters into a minivan in Hopedale to fulfill orders they had taken on a social media St. Bernard group website. The three men were also falsifying the log sheets to hide the stolen oyster sacks they were taking from the lease holder.

When the men were stopped by LDWF and the St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office Marine Division they were in possession of nine untagged and unrefrigerated oyster sacks. When agents presented them with the evidence of the orders for the illegal sales they admitted to selling them without the lease holders permission.

All three men were booked in the St. Bernard Parish Jail. Agents seized and destroyed the nine sacks of oysters because of the refrigeration and log book violations.

Simple theft carries up to a $1,000 fine and six months of jail. Possession of untagged oysters, Department of Health and Hospitals refrigeration violation and operation of a vessel under suspension carries a max penalty of $750 for each offense and 120 days in jail. Violations of the state’s sanitation code for the log book violation carries a $25 fine.

LDWF agents participating in the case are Lt. Adam Young and Senior Agent Blaine Wagner and St. Bernard Parish Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Shane Lulei.