Louisiana Woman Pleads Guilty to Violations in Connection with Illegally Harvesting Oysters from a Private Lease

Louisiana – The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) reported on September 15, 2022, that on August 23, a Port Sulphur, Louisiana woman pled guilty to theft of oyster violations in the 25th Judicial District of Plaquemines Parish.

The Honorable Judge Michael Clement accepted Lien Troung’s guilty plea and sentenced her to a $900 fine plus court costs for illegally harvesting oysters from a private lease. Troung was also placed on one-year probation, which prohibits her from being on any vessel harvesting, possessing, possessing gear to take, or processing oysters for a year, unless the vessel is equipped with a vessel monitoring device monitored by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries Enforcement Division.

The guilty plea arises from an event in March 2022, when LDWF Agents were on patrol in Port Sulphur’s Grand Bayou area, responding to theft reports from local lease holders. Agents observed Troung and two other people collecting oysters by hand in an aluminum flat boat.

Agents made contact with Troung and the occupants in order to obtain a license and a vessel sanitation inspection from the Department of Health. Agents discovered Troung and the residents were gathering oysters from private property without formal permission from the leaseholder.

The court issued bench warrants to the two other occupants, Vivilio Velasquez and Carlos Vasquz, for failing to attend and address the allegations.

The state’s case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jerry Lobrano. Lt. Adam Young, Sgt. Jason Gernados, and Corporal Thomas Forehand were among the agents involved in the investigation.