A New Jersey seafood importer was sentenced to 22 months for fraudulently importing Vietnamese catfish and was ordered to pay $64 million in restitution for evading anti-dumping tariffs.
Thomas George, 61, founder and former chief executive officer of Sterling Seafood Corp. in Cresskill, New Jersey, also must make a $50,000 community service payment to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, U.S. District Judge Faith Hochberg ruled in federal court in Newark, New Jersey.
George admitted he bought more than $539,000 in Vietnamese catfish from a Virginia company and falsely resold it as grouper and sole. George lives in Old Tappan, New Jersey.
George pleaded guilty on Jan. 26 to using false purchase orders, manifests, bills of lading and other documents to disguise catfish bought from a Vietnamese company.
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