Pirate Poachers of the Chesapeake: Adam Antes busted again for raid on oyster sanctuary; Kevin Tarleton has decades of deception as he loots the Bay

OUTLAW WATERMEN

Poaching Pirate of the Chesapeake Adam Antes Continues to Flout the Law

NRP Charges Four Watermen with Oyster Violations; Adam Antes Busted Twice in a Month for Raiding Oyster Sanctuary

NANTICOKE, MD. — Natural Resources Police report that four Eastern Shore watermen charged during January with state wildlife violations by Maryland Natural Resources Police officers. One of them was cited again for raiding a sanctuary on the heels of another raid just a week earlier.

Pirate Poacher Update: Tilghman Island Waterman William J. Lednum Sent to Prison in Massive Rockfish Heist

The investigation in this case started in February 2011 when the Maryland Department of Natural Resources found tens of thousands of pounds of striped bass snagged in illegal, anchored nets before the season officially reopened.

The conspirators were seen on the water in the vicinity of the illegal nets. The subsequent investigation unveiled a wider criminal enterprise to which Hayden and Lednum pleaded guilty on Aug. 1, 2014. Co-defendant Kent Conley Sadler, 31, also of Tilghman Island, previously pleaded guilty to his participation in the conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 21, 2014. Hayden and Lednum face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The defendants have agreed to pay restitution to the state of Maryland of between $498,293 and $929,625. The defendants have further agreed to forfeit the monetary equivalent of 80 percent of the value of the vessel primarily used during the conspiracy.