Four fishermen were sentenced to a month in county jail and each pay $1,000 after they pleaded no contest to taking fish within Big Creek State Marine Reserve in Big Sur.
The group of four—Dennis Marshall Lewis, age 23, Darryl Lycurgus Lewis, 22, Daniel Gordon Gross, 22, and Nicholas Ta, 26, also each received three years of informal probation, according to the Monterey County District Attorney's Office.
On March 19, 2018, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife received a tip that the four men were illegally spearfishing within Big Creek State Marine Reserve, where taking of any marine resource is prohibited.
The reporting party confronted the poachers, who changed out of their wetsuits, packed up their fishing gear and drove off in a truck, but they were pulled over by Warden Byron Jones, who matched the license plate number given by the reporting party.
The men admitted to fishing at Big Creek and 15 fish, including sheepshead, lingcod, vermilion rockfish, cabezons, and blue rockfish were found inside the bed of the truck.
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story has been updated to reflect the following clarification. While the four defendants were each sentenced to one month in jail, they can apply for an alternative work program, like community service, and will not have to serve actual time.
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