Seafood wholesaler headed to prison for illegal rockfish scheme
The owner of Golden Eye Seafood was sentenced to one year and six months in prison for his role in a conspiracy to illegally harvest rockfish from the Chesapeake Bay and Potomac River, prosecutors said.
Robert Lumpkins recorded low weights for the stripped bass, commonly known as rockfish, so fisherman could pull more of the fish from the water, he admitted. It was the wholesaler’s job to check the fish and weigh them. His actions, prosecutors said, threatened the fish populations in local waterways.
Bank employee pleads guilty to mortgage fraud scheme
A 37-year-old District Heights resident used her position at an M&T Bank branch in Upper Marlboro to inflate the bank accounts of homebuyers as part of a $20 million mortgage fraud scheme, she admitted.
Jamilah Al-Bari was a business banking liaison and created a fictitious M&T Bank employee who “signed” the documents the property buyers needed to qualify for loans, she admitted in Maryland’s federal court.
DOD official convicted of passing classified information to China
A jury has convicted a former high-ranking Department of Defense official of passing classified information to a man working for the Chinese government, prosecutors said.
James W. Fondren Jr. was the deputy director of the U.S. Pacific Command’s Washington liaison office when he provided classified documents to Tai She Kuo. According to prosecutors, Fondren passed the information to Kuo through a consulting service for which Kuo was the only customer.
Man, 55, shot to death in District Heights
Prince George’s County police say 55-year-old Bobby Lee Haynes was found shot to death in his home on the 6900 block of Bankrun Terrace late Friday night.
Two males were seen fleeing the scene on a motorcycle, authorities said. At least one of them was armed.
Anyone with information should call Prince George’s County police at 301-772-4925.
– Compiled by Freeman Klopott
