Bedford Man Pleads Guilty to Stealing Lobster Traps

A Bedford man pleaded guilty on Monday to multiple charges related to a stolen lobster gear investigation.

Kyle Basoukas pleaded guilty in Portsmouth District Court to receiving stolen property and molesting lobster gear and was given a 90-day suspended sentence pending good behavior for one year.

During the summer of 2013, New Hampshire Fish and Game Conservation Officers began investigating several complaints of missing lobster gear from both commercial and recreational lobster fishermen. After a lengthy investigation, Basoukas was eventually arrested for multiple marine-related offenses.

Basoukas also pleaded guilty to 133 separate violations, ranging from illegal escape panels on lobster traps to uncompliant whale entanglement gear. He will have to pay more than $11,000 in fines and has lost the privilege of obtaining a lobster license for up to five years. 

Then age 21, Basoukas was arrested on Nov. 11, 2013 following a three-month investigation by Fish and Game Law Enforcement. Fish and Game conservation officers had seized 81 lobster traps, of which 49 were determined to have been stolen property. The stolen traps included some that had been the property of Tony Rahn, a Portsmouth lobsterman who died in an accident in the Piscataqua River in July of 2013.