Alexandra Gutierrez, KUCB – Unalaska
On Tuesday, Victor Chavez-Ramirez, 28, pleaded guilty to sexually harassing a National Marine Fisheries Service observer while aboard the vessel Frontier Spirit in 2008.
Because he was working in the United States illegally, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Smith sentenced him to be deported and fined him $1,500. She also set a probationary term of three years, and ordered that Chavez-Ramirez enroll in sexual harassment training and avoid work in the fishing industry during the terms of his probation.
Chavez-Ramirez was arrested in November in Unalaska while working on the Frontier Explorer, the sister vessel to the Frontier Spirit. Both vessels are owned by the Seattle-based company Clipper Seafoods, Ltd. He was arraigned last week, and his trial had initially been set for January.
Charges of sexual assault and of interfering with the work of a federal fisheries observer were dropped as part of the plea bargain. The plaintiff was satisfied with the sentence.
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