National News

Associated Press Writer
March 10, 2010 21:28 EST

SANTA MONICA, Calif. (AP) -- Federal prosecutors have filed charges against the owner of a California restaurant and its sushi chef that marine mammal activists say served illegal whale meat.

Typhoon Restaurant Inc., which owns The Hump restaurant in Santa Monica, and Kiyoshiro Yamamoto, a 45-year-old Culver City resident, were charged Wednesday with illegally selling an endangered species product, a misdemeanor.

Two undercover diners requested whale as part of an $600 omakase or chef's choice, meal. The young women were working with the producers of the Oscar-winning documentary, "The Cove," to record the whole meal.

They pocketed a sample, and genetic testing confirmed that it was meat from the endangered Sei whale.

If convicted, Yamamoto could face a year in prison and a fine of $100,000. The company could be fined $200,000.

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