Kevin Thompson (born 1958) is the incumbent pastor (for more than 15 years) of the Bay Area Family Church, a

Unification Church of the United States The Unification Church of the United States is a religious movement in the United States of America. It began in the 1950s and 1960s when missionaries from Japan and South Korea were sent to the United States by the international Unification Chur ...

congregation located in

San Leandro San Leandro (Spanish for " St. Leander") is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area; between Oakland to the northwest, and Ashland, Castro Valley, and Hayward to the sout ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

. In 2006, he was indicted by a grand jury for violating the

Lacey Act The Lacey Act of 1900 is a conservation law in the United States that prohibits trade in wildlife, fish, and plants that have been illegally taken, possessed, transported, or sold.United States. Lacey Act (Game). , ch. 553. Approved May 25, 1900. ...

, a

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

law which criminalizes the sale and purchase of certain protected species. On January 22, 2007, Thompson was sentenced to a year and a day in prison andJanuary 23, 2007 Press Release, ''supra''. also ordered to pay $100,000 in

restitution The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court ...

Lacey Act

The Lacey Act prohibits selling or purchasing wildlife which was captured in violation of an underlying law or regulation. In January 1994, it became unlawful under California state law to capture

leopard shark The leopard shark (''Triakis semifasciata'') is a species of houndshark, in the family Triakidae. It is found along the Pacific coast of North America, from the U.S. state of Oregon to Mazatlán in Mexico. Typically measuring 1.2–1.5 m (3.9� ...

s (''Triakis semifasciata'') of less than 36 inches in length.

Shark smuggling

From 1992 through 2003, Thompson enlisted several young men to catch and sell juvenile leopard sharks (leopard sharks which were less than the minimum legal length) from the San Francisco Bay. During that period of time, at least 465 leopard sharks were sold to companies in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

;

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

;

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...

; Romulus,

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

;

Milford Milford may refer to: Place names Canada * Milford (Annapolis), Nova Scotia * Milford (Halifax), Nova Scotia * Milford, Ontario England * Milford, Derbyshire * Milford, Devon, a place in Devon * Milford on Sea, Hampshire * Milford, Shro ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its capita ...

; the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

; and the United Kingdom. Federal authorities learned of Thompson's involvement when pet dealers in Florida and Chicago were arrested and gave evidence against him. In a 2003 sermon, Thompson mentioned that his fishing crew had spent a decade catching and selling juvenile leopard sharks to local pet stores. Spokespeople for the church have denied that the church knew of or condoned Thompson's activities. In a non-prosecution agreement with the government, the Unification Church agreed to pay $500,000 to a $1.5 million fund set up for the purpose of rehabilitating and restoring marine wildlife habitat in the San Francisco Bay to further protect the leopard shark. $900,000 was added to the fund by the State of California and private environmental foundations. By 2013 leopard sharks were again flourishing in the San Francisco Bay. This was largely credited to these environmental restoration efforts.Leopard sharks flourishing in south San Francisco Bay as wetlands are restored
''

Contra Costa Times The ''East Bay Times'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Walnut Creek, California, United States, owned by the Bay Area News Group (BANG), a subsidiary of Media News Group, that serves Contra Costa and Alameda counties, in the East ...

'', July 23, 2013

References

External links

Bay Area Family Church
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thompson, Kevin 1958 births Living people American smugglers American Unificationists American members of the clergy convicted of crimes

Lacey Act

Shark smuggling

References

Further reading

External links