July 10, 2014 — Victims of last summer's oyster thefts that cost local shellfish farmers thousands in lost business and damaged equipment are outraged that Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe wrote a letter that they say appears to advocate for the perpetrator rather than his victims.
Victims of last summer's oyster thefts that cost local shellfish farmers thousands in lost business and damaged equipment want a Sandwich business owner who accepted the stolen goods to lose his permits to sell fish.
And some are outraged that Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe wrote a letter that they say appears to advocate for the perpetrator rather than his victims.
Reaction to a story in the Sunday Cape Cod Times about Joseph Vaudo's push to save his licenses to sell seafood at Joe's Lobster Mart in Sandwich was swift and strong.
"We don't need anyone like this in this business — especially now," said Gary Sawayer, a Dennis oyster farmer who estimates he lost $2,500 in the thefts. "The state is taking this very seriously. People can die."
The state Department of Public Health filed its intent to revoke Vaudo's license after he pleaded guilty in Barnstable District Court in March to receiving stolen shellfish from contaminated water in Yarmouth. Vaudo also admitted to charges of misleading a police officer and failing to file the proper reports. He was fined a total of $6,250.
Vaudo is appealing the license revocation to the state Division of Administrative Law Appeals in a case that is pending.
In a May 27 letter that O'Keefe said was written at the request of Vaudo's attorney, the district attorney called the fine "the appropriate punishment in light of the lack of this business' or Mr. Vaudo's involvement with this court for any similar violations."
O'Keefe characterized Vaudo's purchase of oysters from Michael Bryant, who is charged separately in the string of oyster thefts, as an isolated incident.
And while the state's case against Vaudo is tied to the potential public health threat created by purchasing stolen oysters and failing to properly report their source, O'Keefe said in the letter there was no proof of a health threat.
"Nor is there any evidence that this one-time offense resulted in any adverse public health consequences," he wrote.
O'Keefe reiterated that on Wednesday.
"I deal in evidence," he said, adding emphasis to the last word of his sentence. "We had, in the criminal case, no evidence of the fact that the public health was endangered."
Some local aquaculturists say Vaudo's punishment is a slap on the wrist.
"He gave more money to politicians than he paid for the fine," said Ron Glantz, president of the Barnstable Association for Recreational Shellfish. "This guy (Vaudo) is convicted of lying to a police officer. The punishment doesn't fit the crime. When you're dealing with multimillion dollars in sales, I don't think $6,250 is a deterrent."
Although Vaudo has never donated to O'Keefe's campaigns, since 2004 he has given a total of $8,400 to the district attorney's political allies and fellow Sandwich Republicans.
Read the full story at the Cape Cod Times