They took a bite out of crime.
A Long Island exotic fish dealer copped to illegally importing nearly 40,000 razor-toothed piranhas from Hong Kong to Queens, in a Brooklyn federal court hearing Wednesday.
Joel Rakower agreed to pay more than $70,000 in fines after admitting that he purposely had his Asian suppliers mislabel the fish as harmless silver tetras to get around a New York City piranha prohibition enacted in 2011, prosecutors said.
Rakower violated both federal and local laws by importing the fish and faces a misdemeanor rap.
“Driven by greed and without regard for the health and safety of people or the environment, the defendant and his company illegally trafficked in piranha by falsely labeling the imported predatory freshwater fish as being silver tetras, a far more benign fish often kept in home aquariums and having a far less street value than piranha,” said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, whose office assisted in the investigation.
Despite their exotic aura, the tiny gnashers fetch just under a dollar a piece and Rakower’s haul was valued at $37,000, officials said.
“They’re making a mountain out of a molehill,” said Rakower’s attorney, Barry Agulnick. “The sad part is that this is a man who has a great reputation in his business who made an error in judgement. And he admitted to it.”
Agulnick said that Rakower has been a fish importer for many years and sold his finned wares across the country.
He added that the piranhas never grow beyond a few inches.
Piranhas are illegal in 25 states and were prohibited in New York City in 2011. Officials contend that the fish can be introduced into local waterways and wreak havoc.