Mary Mahoney’s co-owner pleads guilty to mislabeling imported fish as local seafood

BILOXI, Miss. (WLOX) - On Thursday, Anthony Charles Cvitanovich and Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, Inc. pleaded guilty to conspiracy to mislabel inexpensive imported seafood as locally caught, premium seafood.

The official charge is called felony information. A plea agreement between the United States and Cvitanovich states he could face up to three years in prison and a possible $10,000 fine.

He could also face one year of supervised release.

Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, Inc., a longtime Biloxi restaurant, faces a maximum penalty of five years probation and a $500,000 fine.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the scheme began as early as 2002, and continued through November of 2019.

The documents said between 2018 and 2019, Cvitanovich mislabeled 17,190 pounds of a variety of fish: Lake Victoria Perch from Africa, Triple Tail from Suriname, and Unicorn Filefish from India. In all, more than 58,000 pounds of frozen fish imported from overseas were fraudulently sold at Mary Mahoney’s between 2013 and 2019.

Officials said Cvitanovich was passing off the foreign fish as snapper and grouper caught in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mary Mahoney’s sent a statement through its attorney, Tim Holleman saying, “Mary Mahoney’s Old French House Restaurant is incredibly grateful to have served the Gulf Coast for over 60 years. Over the past five years, we have had extensive discussions with the federal government over inaccurate entrée descriptions of a certain item on our menu. This issue was immediately corrected five years ago. Mary Mahoney’s will continue doing what we have done best since 1964, which is serving our valued customers with impeccable service. We take pride in serving the highest quality steaks and seafood in a beautifully preserved historic home. The Mahoney and Cvitanovich families along with their outstanding Team Members look forward to serving this community for many more years to come.”

Genetic testing of fish by the Food And Drug Administration (FDA) confirmed the fraudulent scheme.

“When people spend their hard-earned dollars to enjoy the incredible local seafood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they should get what they paid for, not frozen fish from overseas,” said U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee of the Southern District of Mississippi.

Mary Mahoney’s Old French House, Inc. and Anthony Charles Cvitanovich are scheduled to be sentenced on September 12, 2024.

The Food and Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigations is investigating the case.

“U.S. consumers expect their seafood to be correctly identified. When sellers purposefully substitute one fish species for another, they deceive consumers and cause potential food safety hazards to be overlooked or misidentified by processors or end users,” said Special Agent in Charge Justin Fielder, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Miami Field Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea Jones and Senior Trial Attorney Jeremy F. Korzenik of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division are prosecuting the case.

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