Citizen Staff Writer

KEY WEST — Four shrimpers arrested in April for illegal shrimping in prohibited water off the Marquesas were convicted by a Key West jury Thursday after a three-day trial.

The men each were sentenced to 29 days in jail and fines totaling nearly $600,000. Also, money made from the sale of their illegal catches, which was placed in escrow until the end of the trial, will go to government forfeiture funds.

Lt. Roy Payne of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said he found more than 57,000 pounds of illegally harvested shrimp in the four boats captained by Hong Van Nguyen, of Texas, Khanh Nguyen, Huynh Minh and Paul Thai, all of Mississippi.

He gave them and a fifth captain in the shrimp boat fleet the option of turning over their catch and nets or going to jail.

The fifth boat captain agreed to relinquish his catch, while the other four decided to fight a court case hoping to recoup their losses if found innocent, Payne said last April.

At the time Payne said the men had been shrimping for about two months and were not able to pay their mates or fuel bills.

"They could be back out fishing tonight," Payne said, explaining that fish houses often loan money to shrimpers to pay fines, knowing the loan will be repaid when fish are caught.

Thai, the only one of the four who speaks fluent English, said in April that he had gotten his coordinates from the Coast Guard, and was fishing within the legal area according to those numbers.

The shrimp was off-loaded, sold by a local fish house and money from the sale was placed into an escrow account. With Thursday's guilty verdict, that money will be turned over to the government.

"I am very pleased with today's jury verdict," State Attorney Mark Kohl said in a written statement. "Shrimping is prohibited in that area because it prevents baby shrimp from completing a full-life cycle and moving to legal fishing areas where some of them may be legally caught. These unlawful actions of a few do long-term harm to the entire fishing industry."

mbolen@keysnews.com