Sea-turtle incident sends Kaua'i man, 34, to prison

By David Waite
Advertiser Staff Writer

A Kaua'i man who admitted capturing two green sea turtles last November was sentenced yesterday by federal Magistrate Judge Barry Kurren to six months in prison.

Daniel Isobe, 34, a fisherman, said he was catching black crab when he came across the turtles and took them home.

"I just like apologize for the whole mess I caused," Isobe told Kurren. "It wasn't intended."

But Craig Nakamura, the assistant United States attorney who prosecuted the case, told Kurren there were commercial aspects to the the case.

Nakamura said after the sentencing hearing that Isobe made statements to investigators that he was attempting "to fill an order" for the two turtles, which weighed 200 and 250 pounds.

Isobe was caught with the turtles, a male and a female, in the bed of his pick-up truck after a Kaua'i police officer pulled him over for speeding, Nakamura said.