Ginseng poaching lands Maryland couple in Rappahannock court
Llama farmer’s lawsuit against county government approaches trial
Eun Joo Jee and Gibong Lee, both of Beltsville, Md., were sentenced Tuesday in Rappahannock County General District Court on a charge of unlawful harvesting of ginseng on Sept. 29, 2019.
In an interview in his office on Wednesday morning, Commonwealth‘s Attorney Art Goff said the couple was apprehended on private property “in the vicinity of the Harris Hollow trailhead out of the Shenandoah National Park.”
Goff said Jee and Lee had 76 plants in their possession, including young plants, and that if they had been arrested in the park they would have been charged with felonies in federal court.
Goff explained that native ginseng is an endangered plant and considered a natural resource by Virginia authorities. Harvesting ginseng on property other than one’s own without permission is a serious offense.
Represented by Warrenton attorney Mark Williams and speaking through an interpreter, the husband and wife pleaded guilty to the charge. They were each sentenced to 90 days in jail, all suspended, 12 months of unsupervised probation, and ordered to pay restitution of $1000.
Additional charges of trespassing and harvesting undersized plants were dropped.
Shenandoah National Park officials told this newspaper in an earlier interview that ginseng is a rare native plant highly sought after in some cultures for its supposed medicinal value.
Wild ginseng was once plentiful in the southeastern United States, but with increased poaching, it could quickly disappear.
Ginseng collecting used to be allowed in state parks and national forests, but overharvesting forced state and federal agencies to make ginseng collecting illegal.
BRAGG MOVES TOWARDS TRIAL
Marian Bragg of Gid Brown Hollow Road re-entered a motion in Rappahannock County Circuit Court on Monday, Feb. 10, asking the court to disqualify opposing counsel in her October 2016 lawsuit against the county’s Board of Supervisors.
Bragg’s suit charges that the BOS violated Virginia’s Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) in a series of closed meetings in 2016 to discuss hiring a County Attorney. This is the first of two lawsuits the llama farmer has brought against the county alleging FOIA violations.
Her motion alleges that because Deputy County Attorney Peter Luke, representing four BOS members, prepared materials for and attended the closed sessions he “will be a material and necessary witness” for the plaintiff.
The motion requests that the court direct Luke to withdraw from the case, if he does not do so voluntarily.
There have been rumors that the county is considering settling the case before the trial, which is scheduled for Feb. 20 and 21 in Rappahannock County Circuit Court.
CAPPIALI EXTENSION
John Cappiali was back in district court to explain why he had missed Tuesday’s deadline for applying for a special exception permit to run a contractor’s yard from the Route 211 Amissville property he leases from Joseph Long of Goldvein.
Since October 2018, Cappiali has been in an out of court as the target of a lawsuit against the Board of Supervisors and Zoning Administrator Michelle Somers. The suit alleges that Cappiali and his wife continue to run an unpermitted junkyard despite several notices of violation from the county, and asks for enforcement of the county’s zoning ordinance.
On Tuesday, Cappiali explained that he had applied for the permit, but that it had taken nine months for the Planning Commission to deny the application and for it to go to the BOS for a hearing. He told Judge J. Gregory Ashwell that he met with Somers on Jan. 14 to go over a list of objections from the Planning Commission.
He said he was notified by email this week that his application would be taken up at the March 2 BOS meeting.
Ashwell agreed not to rule on the case until after the BOS meeting.
When Cappiali continued to press his case, Ashwell said, “I’m trying to help you here. Don’t snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”
He gave Cappiali a choice: “We can either settle this right now or wait till after the March 2 meeting.”
When Cappiali agreed to wait, Ashwell praised him on his choice. Cappiali will next appear in court on March 10.
Ginseng collecting used to be allowed in state parks and national forests, but overharvesting forced state and federal agencies to make ginseng collecting illegal.