The kingpin of a lucrative illegal abalone enterprise, Julian Brown, sentenced to an effective 18 years behind bars is expected back in the Port Elizabeth High Court on Tuesday.
His defence team is expected to present an argument for leave to appeal his sentence after Brown was convicted of racketeering and contravening the Marine Living Resource Act in February.
The 32-year-old Brown, a high school dropout, faced a string of charges between January 2015 and April 2016. He was acquitted on charges of defeating the ends of justice and money laundering linked to the purchase of a luxury Ferrari vehicle.
Brown, headed the enterprise alongside Eugene "Boesman" Victor and Brandon Turner. The business involved drying, salting, packing, freezing and processing abalone for sale outside South Africa.
The operations took place across Nelson Mandela Bay involving a number of role players. The business was operated from Forest Hill, Algoa Park, Westering, Sherwood, Kamma Ridge and North End.
During the trial, a string of associates who had been involved in poaching abalone turned on Brown and testified as Section 204 witnesses.
-African News Agency (ANA)
