Sabine Transportation CEO Loses Appeal on Grain Dumping Conviction

The former Chairman of Sabine Transportation Company has lost an appeal of his 2005 conviction for dumping more than 400 tons of contaminated grain in the South China Sea in February of 1999. The indictment stemmed crew members aboard a Sabine Transportation tank vessel, who told the U.S. Coast Guard that the oily grain was dumped into the ocean.

Rick Stickle also announced that he would forgo further court appeals, and will surrender to begin serving his 33 month prison sentence. A Florida federal jury convicted him in November 2004 on charges that he planned and dumped contaminated grain and then conspired with company executives to impede a U.S. Coast Guard investigation. He was sentenced in June, 2005.

Stickle could appeal the latest ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court, but declined to do so. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta ruled that Stickle's appeal lacked merit and dismissed his motion for a new trial. Federal prosecutors will likely order Stickle to report to a federal prison within 30 days. Stickle, who also was ordered to pay a $60,000 fine, has since divested himself of all Sabine assets.