Sentencing reset for Alaska strip club owner in dumping case

  • Thursday, January 19, 2017 10:35pm
  • News

By RACHEL D’ORO

Associated Press

ANCHORAGE — A sentencing hearing has been rescheduled for an Alaska man who was found guilty of illegally dumping human waste into a harbor from a converted crabbing boat he was operating as a floating strip club.

Darren Byler had been scheduled for a Thursday sentencing. But his attorney, John Cashion, said Byler’s flight from Kodiak Island was delayed and the sentencing is now set for 3:30 p.m. Friday.

Federal prosecutors have recommended 18 months in prison for Darren Byler.

In a sentencing memorandum, Cashion asks that the court consider a fine and probation rather than prison time, adding that Byler is “especially needed as a partner to his wife and family in a frontier subsistence environment.”

Byler’s wife in a letter to U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason asked for her husband to be kept out of prison, claiming he was unfairly convicted of a felony.

“This was and has always been about getting rid of the ‘stripper boat,’ ” Kimberly Riedel-Byler wrote. “It was about the dancers from beginning to end.”

Byler was convicted in December 2015 of dumping sewage in violation of the federal Refuse Act and lying to federal authorities. The maximum penalty is five years in prison for the false statements and $25,000 for each violation of the federal Refuse Act.

Riedel-Byler was found not guilty of the same charges.

Byler piped raw sewage from bathrooms aboard the 94-foot “Wild Alaskan” boat into the harbor near Kodiak in 2014 instead of taking it 3 miles offshore and told the Coast Guard that the waste had been disposed of properly, prosecutors have said.

The Wild Alaskan opened for business in June 2014 and encountered problems early on.

The floating bar was briefly shut down by the Coast Guard after someone reported a water taxi taking patrons to the vessel was overloaded.

The Coast Guard also found the boat had an expired locator beacon, expired inflatable devices on two life rafts and inoperable navigation sidelights.

Byler said at the time that he believed his troubles happened because people disapproved of the exotic dancers aboard his boat.

The boat operated as a strip club until late 2014, court documents said.

More in News

Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion
Brad Snowden and Julie Crites participate in a Seward City Council candidate forum at the Seward Community Library in Seward on Thursday.
Seward council candidates discuss issues at election forum

Participating in Thursday’s forum were Julie Crites and Brad Snowden

Cam Choy, associate professor of art at Kenai Peninsula College, works on a salmon sculpture in collaboration with the Kenai Watershed Forum during the Kenai River Festival at Soldotna Creek Park in Soldotna, Alaska, on June 8, 2019. (Peninsula Clarion file)
Soldotna adopts arts and culture master plan

The plan outlines how the city plans to support arts and culture over the next 10 years

Architect Nancy Casey speaks in front of a small gathering at the Fireside Chat presented by the Kenai Watershed Forum on Nov. 30, 2022, at Kenai River Brewing in Soldotna, Alaska. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Watershed Forum’s Fireside Chats return Wednesday

The chats will cover a range of interesting topics, centered on knowledge, research and projects

Erosion of the Kenai bluff near the Kenai Senior Center. (Photo by Aidan Curtin courtesy Scott Curtin)
Kenai to sign bluff stabilization agreement Monday

A signing event will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Kenai Senior Center

Engineer Lake Cabin can be seen in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge on Nov. 21, 2021. (Photo by Erin Thompson/Peninsula Clarion)
Public comment accepted for proposed rate increases for overnight fees at refuge

Campsites would increase $5 per night and cabins would increase $10 per night

Abigal Craig, youth winner of the Seventh Annual Kenai Silver Salmon Derby, is presented a novelty check by Kenai River Sportfishing Association Executive Director Shannon Martin, City of Kenai Mayor Brian Gabriel, and Kenai Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Samantha Springer at the Kenai Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Center in Kenai, Alaska, on Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2023. (Jake Dye/Peninsula Clarion)
Silver Salmon Derby nets fish, funds for river protection

116 fish were weighed by 79 anglers across the six days of competition

Soldotna Public Works Director Kyle Kornelis talks about the Soldotna field house project during a Soldotna City Council meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 14, 2022, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna awards field house contract

Anchorage-based Criterion General, Inc. will construct the facility

Kenai Peninsula Borough Mayor Peter Micciche testifies before the Kenai Peninsula Borough Assembly during a meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly to let borough mayors speak sooner during meetings

The mayor’s report will now be given after the first round of public comments and before public hearings and new assembly business

Assembly members Lane Chesley, left, and Richard Derkevorkian participate in a borough assembly meeting on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023, in Soldotna, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Haara/Peninsula Clarion)
Assembly asks state to allow term limits for school board members

Alaska Statute does not allow term limits to be imposed on school board members

Most Read