February 26, 2016 — “He [Michael] buys a lot of fish. You can become a laundromat. You’ll never find a better laundromat than this mother….” — Carlos Rafael.
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“I could have to regret this to you [sic], because I don’t know you. You could be the IRS in here. This could be a cluster-f…. So I’m trusting you. The only thing is, I open myself because both of you is Russians and I don’t think they would have two Russians [posing as agents]. F… me – that would be some bad luck!” — Carlos Rafael
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“Rafael said that every Friday or Saturday, he works with an employee, later identified as Debra Messier, who is responsible for preparing the reports. If Rafael’s boats catch fish in excess of legal quotas, he tells Messier to change the description on the report to that of another species for which he had remaining quota, or to one for which there were no limitations at all.”
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Rafael told the UCs (undercover agents) that Michael delivers cash to Rafael in advance of fish shipments. Rafael then sends fish to Michael, in New York, in varying increments over a six-month period until the advanced payment is worked off. Rafael sends the fish to Michael by truck, after which Rafael marks a journal detailing the value of the fish shipped. Rafael reduces the balance owed to Michael after each shipment until the cash advance is fully repaid.