Cape Cod oyster poaching cases cracked

[Soundbounder]

A West Yarmouth man has been indicted in the theft of more than $40,000 of oysters and equipment from beds off Dennis and Barnstable last summer.

And a well-known Sandwich restaurant owner pleaded guilty Friday to a charge of receiving stolen property in connection with the case.

Michael Bryant, 37, was indicted by a Barnstable County grand jury Friday on six counts of larceny of property, a shellfish sales violation, shellfishing a contaminated area and a commercial fishing license violation. Bryant will be arraigned “in the upcoming days” in Barnstable Superior Court, according to a statement from Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe.

“He's certainly been arrested many times,” Barnstable police Lt. Sean Balcom said of Bryant.

When Balcom said in January that the case was close to being solved, he noted that “where (the suspect) sold the oysters is going to come as a pretty big surprise.”

Joseph Vaudo, a 62-year-old Sandwich businessman who has owned Joe's Lobster Mart for more than 35 years, pleaded guilty Friday in Barnstable District Court to charges of receiving stolen property, willfully misleading police during an investigation and failure or refusal to file required statistical reports of wholesale and retail dealers.

Vaudo was ordered to pay $6,250 in fines and court costs.

Balcom, head of the department's detective unit, said Vaudo was uncooperative when questioned by police. “He denied having bought anything (from Bryant), he denied knowing Bryant and he denied Bryant came out of his business despite the fact we saw otherwise from the surveillance,” Balcom said.

Balcom added the restaurant owner's problems may be far more severe than the fine he was charged by the court. Vaudo is both a retailer and wholesaler. “He could face significant problems with his permits to buy shellfish and operate his business.”

Vaudo also leases his restaurant property on the Cape Cod Canal from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which can force him out at any time.

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