Two Pasadena Men Convicted, Jailed for Stealing Crabs from Watermen —
Bozo Crab Bandit posted photos of himself stealing crabs at night on his Facebook page! …along with a conversation that implies he confessed to the crime to the entire world!…
UPDATE: Two recreational crabbers caught by Maryland Natural Resources Police officers stealing from the crab pots of commercial watermen were sentenced Friday to 30 days in jail by an Anne Arundel District Court judge, BUT one defendant was released from jail after serving only 3 days. The feckless Anne Arundel County States Attorney Wes Adams and incredibly inept District Court Judge let him skate without any fines!
John Allen Schuman II, 37, of 8140 Forest Glen Drive, Pasadena, Md., was found guilty in Anne Arundel County District Court on March 20, 2015 of six charges stemming from his arrest last Sept. 15 off Bodkin Point at the mouth of the Patapsco River. Schuman was charged by NRP Officer H. McCray with the following and the results in court were: GUILTY
- Charge of crabbing after hours – no fine
- Charge of theft from crab pots – no fine
- Charge of possession of female crab – no fine
- Charge of registration not in poss. – no fine
- Charge of theft less than $100 – no fine, 90 days in jail with 60 days suspended. Schuman was jailed on March 20, 2015 and released from jail on March 23, 2015. (case is marked set for appeal with bond posted by Mark Edward Bortner Jr. of Pasadena.
- Charged with failure to possess crab lic. – no fine.
- Operating without proper running lights – no fine.
Charged with malicious destruction of property on Sept. 28, 2013, charge was dropped by the Anne Arundel County States Attorney. Schuman was represented by the taxpayer-provided Public Defender, which represents those who present themselves to be poor and unable to hire their own criminal defense lawyer.
Charged with reckless driving, spinning wheels, having person underage in his vehicle while DUI on Sept. 27, 2013 by Anne Arundel County Police Officer C. Apuzzio at 10:30 pm on Bridge Drive. In Anne Arundel County District Court Schuman entered into a sweet plea deal with the Anne Arundel States Attorney by entering a guilty plea in exchange for a verdict probation before judgment. ZERO Fine, no time in jail and supervised probation. Court records show that on May 2, 2014 he had failed to pay the court costs of $42.50 and the record was marked “suspension” and then removed on Aug. 19, 2014.
Charged on July 18, 2009 with possession of undersized crabs by NRP Officer R. Bowman, Schuman appeared in Dorchester County District Court where a plea deal with the Dorchester County States Attorney resulted in a guilty plea on Oct. 23, 2009 with ZERO fine.
Charged by NRP Officer M. Morningstar with operating a vessel while impaired by alcohol on June 28, 2009, Schuman’s charge was dropped by Anne Arundel County States Attorney.
Charged in Garrett County District Court, where there apparently is a States Attorney unaffected by the charm of Schuman or perhaps never gets a bushel of crabs put on his porch – with possessing a loaded weapon in his vehicle resulted in a plea deal with teeth. On July 2, 2009, he was fined $327.50. NRP Officer Cpl. Mark McMillan issued the citation on April 18, 2009.
Charged on April 18, 2009 with hunting turkeys with aid of bait, he entered into a plea deal in Garrett County District Court that ended with a fine of $577.50. If the turkey he might have bagged weighed 30 pounds, then his price per pound would have come to $19.25 per pound. Schuman should hunt for turkeys in Food Lion.
Charged with speeding in a park, destruction of property and malicious destruction of government property on Dec. 5, 2002, Schuman struck a plea deal with Anne Arundel County States Attorney and got off with no fine, no time and charges put on the Stet Docket on April 4, 2003.
Leslie Eugene Jenne III, 31, of Pasadena, was found guilty of two charges of illegal crabbing for his role in the same incident. Jenne was still on probation after being convicted in July 2014 of second-degree assault.
In addition to jail time and paying court costs, both men were placed on one year’s probation.
Col. George F. Johnson IV, superintendent of NRP, praised the watermen and area residents who provided tips to officers and filed reports that led to the conviction of both men.
“These two men were stealing from hard-working watermen and depriving them of their livelihoods,” Johnson said. “This is a classic example how, working together, we can bring law-breakers to justice.”
Watermen estimated their losses over the two-month period last summer at $6,400.
Officers said they began receiving complaints from watermen last July that their crab pots were being opened, damaged and emptied, in some cases at least twice a week. They conducted surveillance of the shoreline waters between Bodkin Point and Gibson Island but were initially unable to track down the thieves.
They got their break when area residents noticed an unlighted boat returning to Bodkin Creek late at night several times a week. One tip included a boat registration number that was assigned to Schuman.
Officers intercepted Schuman’s unlighted 22-foot boat on the night of Sept. 15 and noticed a thick coating of mud and algae smeared on the vessel’s hull and deck.
Schuman told officers that he and his three passengers had been out recreational crabbing that evening. On their way back home, the boat engine had become entangled in crab pot line. To free his boat, Schuman said he pulled up a crab pot. He decided to keep the five crabs inside.
But officers said the amount of mud and algae was inconsistent with what would be found on a recreational boat and more in line with what would be found on a commercial vessel pulling many heavy traps. The crabs were seized and returned to state waters.
The next day, five watermen reported to NRP that a total of 43 pots had been fished.
Officers reviewed Schuman’s Facebook page—which was public–and found several photos of him crabbing at night, with time stamps indicating the activity occurred between 11 p.m. and 3 a.m.
Schuman was charged with removing crabs from a pot of another, theft, recreational crabbing after hours, failing to have a recreational license, failing to have a registration in his possession, recreational possession of a female crab and operating without proper running lights.
Jenne was charged with theft and recreational crabbing after hours.
THE following was posted on John Schuman’s Facebook page as of March 23, 2015 at 6:17 pm:
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John Schuman At least we went dummy
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(Poster) So you did steal them Ha! BUSTED!TO THE EDITOR: I seen my name attached to the article about the 2 men allegedly caught stealing crabs off Bodkin Point with a link to our conversation. I am respectively requesting my name and comments to this person be removed from the article posted online as I feel it can be damaging to my character and could give a bad image to people who know me and my family name.I understand everything that is said on Facebook is open to the public but don’t agree with my name being associated with a crime and advertised for everyone to see.I am a law abiding citizen who has much respect for the bay and all it provides for recreation and commercial watermen in our area and do not approve by no means this type of criminal activity.I will be looking for a reply to this message hopefully sooner than later.(Editor’s Note: since you correctly pointed out he was admitting to a crime a year earlier than when he was finally caught, you do get credit for doing so. You should have alerted the NRP. These two bozos weren’t ‘allegedly’ stealing crabs, they were convicted of stealing crabs, for which, at least one of them has served 3 days and is appealing his conviction – perhaps with a taxpayer provided Public Defender. Without paying any fine for his crime and now skipping out of jail after only 3 days, he is well ahead of the game with his victims out thousands of dollars and perhaps footing the bill, as they have in the past, for his Public Defender. Another Maryland memory!…AND when it comes to FRIENDS…choose wisely.)
- Schuman was charged with removing crabs from a pot of another, theft, recreational crabbing after hours, failing to have a recreational license, failing to have a registration in his possession, recreational possession of a female crab and operating without proper running lights. Jenne was charged with theft and recreational crabbing after hours.
