Luke D. Brugnara pleaded not guilty Thursday morning on multiple
counts of poaching endangered fish from the Little Arthur Creek
that runs through his northwest Gilroy property, and of making
false statements to investigators.
Luke D. Brugnara pleaded not guilty Thursday morning on multiple counts of poaching endangered fish from the Little Arthur Creek that runs through his northwest Gilroy property, and of making false statements to investigators.
Before his federal hearing in San Francisco, Brugnara called the case a “sham” and denied details in the indictment: The document describes him as an obstreperous property owner who ignored official warnings and flouted the Endangered Species Act by trapping and poaching steelhead in the spring of 2007.
The whole case is fabricated, though, and amounts to political retribution from the Santa Clara Valley Water District, Brugnara said. Beyond that, Brugnara, whose wife grew up in Gilroy, said he simply has no reason to take the fish.
“I am a conservationist, and I have two bass lakes on my property that I fish on,” Brugnara said. “They found a fishing rod at my house and assumed I took the (steelhead) … It’s just sad.”
In his indictment, U.S. Attorney Joseph Russoniello alleges that Brugnara, 44, plugged his 138-year-old dam on the Little Arthur Creek and generally failed to facilitate the steelheads’ migration toward upstream spawning grounds. As the confused fish swam idly in a stagnant pool between the dead-end and a makeshift dam just downstream that federal prosecutors allege Brugnara built to create the trap, the indictment reads that he “took” the fish, leaving behind foot prints, a hooked fishing line and two McDonald’s receipts. This is the first federal criminal case in the county charging someone with the poaching of steelhead, according to the Department of Justice.
Brugnara’s pristine 112-acre property is worth $1.1 million and sits on Redwood Retreat Road, west of Gilroy and north of Highway 152. He bought the Gilroy property in September 2001 under his company’s name, Brugnara Corporation, according to the DOJ and county tax records.
Also Thursday morning, Brugnara’s lawyer, Harris Taback, postponed his client’s arraignment and plea on three counts of filing false tax returns; Brugnara will appear in court May 9 on those charges.
He will appear May 14 on the poaching charges and signed an agreement with the court not to bother witnesses or investigators like Special Agent Roy Torres with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Torres appeared in court Thursday morning with Oakland-based Assistant U.S. Attorney Maureen Bessette, but he declined to comment and said the 11-page indictment speaks for itself.
