April 10, 2008
Contact: Officer JoAnne Adams 863-581-6990A Southwest Florida man with a long history of marine fisheries violations was sentenced April 9, in a Lee County courtroom, to serve 18 months in prison for illegal commercial fishing activities.
John Ivan Kittles, DOB 03/19/62, of 5006 Curlew Dr., St. James City, was charged by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) law enforcement officers with violating Florida's constitutional ban on the use of gill nets in state waters. Kittles' saltwater products license previously had been suspended for life for similar violations.
On the night of Dec 19, 2006, FWC Investigator Larry Jernstedt and FWC Officer Richard Wilcox were working in the northern area of Matlacha Pass looking for illegal netting activities. At about 4 a.m., the officers noticed a light shining through a strip of mangroves. They investigated and found two blacked-out vessels with a single occupant. Officers illuminated the vessels, revealing Kittles, 500 yards of monofilament net with 400 pounds of mullet still in it and two undersized snook.
Kittles jumped out of the boat after being told he was under arrest. Wilcox chased him, but Kittles fled into the thick mangroves and eluded officers until Wednesday, Dec. 20, when Wilcox found him at Jug Creek Fish House and arrested him.
On Tuesday, Kittles was convicted of one felony count of use of a gill net in state waters. The vessels and net that Kittles used were forfeited to the state.
