Andrew Cohen, the agent formerly in charge of law enforcement in the Northeast and the linchpin for actions against the Gloucester Seafood Display Auction that drew a judicial rebuke, has informed the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of his plans to resign, informed sources told the Times.
The sources said details of Cohen's departure after 23 years on the job had not been settled.
He leaves an undefined position paying him in excess of $123,000 a year and departs while actions against law enforcement personnel and NOAA enforcement and litigation lawyers remain undetermined, but one senior NOAA official told the Times that "discipline" of some sort was probable, but prosecutions were considered unlikely.
NOAA law enforcement was the subject of a year and a half long investigation by the Commerce Department inspector general, which brought to light abuse of the fund of fines to fishermen and businesses, and other excesses including an illegal entry to the Gloucester auction in the weeks before an armed raid in 2006.
Read the complete story from the Gloucester Times.