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U.S. Department of Justice May 9, 2008 NEWS RELEASE :
KEY WEST DIVER SENTENCED FOR STEALING PEARLS FROM SALVAGE SHIPR. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, announce that defendant Michael T. Dodd pled guilty and was sentenced today on charges that he stole approximately 21 pearls, which he recovered while he was employed by Mel Fisher's Treasures, LLC. Dodd was charged in a criminal Information with purloining personal property within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 661. Dodd was sentenced by Magistrate Lurana Snow to 1 year of probation and 100 hours of community service. According to statements made in open court and the criminal Information filed in the case, Dodd was a salvage diver for the Fisher organization, diving on the wreck of the Santa Margarita. In June 2007, Dodd secured possession of approximately 21 pearls recovered from a box salvaged from the Santa Margarita. In court today, he admitted to unlawfully keeping the pearls, which he intended to make into a gift for his girlfriend. The Santa Margarita is under a court salvage order in the Southern District of Florida. FBI agents recovered the pearls from Dodd in January 2008, and returned them to the rightful owner, Mel Fisher's Treasures, LLC. Mr. Acosta commended the investigative efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for their work on this case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Watts-FitzGerald. A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents
and information may be found on the website of the District Court for
the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or
on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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