SEATTLE — The Washington state Fish and Wildlife Department says the former owner of a Jefferson County shellfish company has been sentenced to 5 1/2 years in prison for poaching more than $2 million worth of oysters and clams from state beaches.
Wildlife Lt. Paul Golden says Rodney Allan Clark, 50, pleaded guilty in King County Superior Court to 17 counts of trafficking in stolen property and one count of reckless endangerment for selling shellfish to the public without a state health certification. The former owner of G&R Quality Seafood in Quilcene was sentenced Friday.
Clark must return to court next month for a restitution hearing.
Eight of Clark’s former employees have pleaded guilty to misdemeanor fishing violations and received a combination of fines and jail time. Some of them cooperated with the Fish and Wildlife investigation of the poaching on Jefferson and Kitsap county beaches.
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