Federal Prosecutors Charge Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, in Maui Monk Seal Case With 2 Wildlife Violations
Updated
Updated · Hawaii News Now · May 27
Federal Prosecutors Charge Igor Lytvynchuk, 38, in Maui Monk Seal Case With 2 Wildlife Violations
8 articles · Updated · Hawaii News Now · May 27
May 26 charges filed in federal court accuse Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk, 38, of violating the Endangered Species Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act after a Maui monk seal encounter.
Court records say the May 5 incident in Lahaina was filmed, showing Lytvynchuk tracking the endangered seal before throwing a large rock that narrowly missed its head and startled it from the water.
NOAA agents arrested Lytvynchuk near Seattle on May 13 after an earlier criminal complaint on May 12; witnesses had confronted him at the shoreline and said police were being called.
If convicted, he faces up to 1 year in prison on each charge and fines totaling as much as $170,000, in a case that has drawn scrutiny over harassment of a protected Hawaiian species.
His lawyer claims he was protecting turtles. Does video evidence tell a different story about the attack?
He boasted he was 'rich enough to pay fines.' But will he now face prison for throwing a single rock?