N.J. Fishing Crew May Win $2.3M After Judge Disqualifies Marlin Angler

BALTIMORE, MD — Three New Jersey friends who won $767,000 for catching a 236.5-pound tuna last August stand to receive an additional $2.3 million after a federal judge disqualified the winner of the 2016 White Marlin Open on Wednesday.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard D. Bennett ruled the White Marlin Open properly applied the rules of the tournament when tournament officials withheld $2.8 million in prize money from Philip Heasley and his crew members aboard the Kallianassa, the tournament said in a post on Facebook.

Bennett found Heasley and his crew had not passed polygraph examinations, which were required under the rules of the tournament, and had violated the tournament rules by deploying fishing lines before 8:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, the date they caught the 76.5-pound white marlin, tournament officials said. The ruling came after a two-week trial, tournament officials said.

The $2,818,662 in prize money the crew of the Naples, Fla.-based boat was expecting to receive has been sitting in an escrow since last August.

Damien Romeo of Lacey Township, who own the boat Hubris, and longtime friends Rich Kostzyu of Hamilton and Brian Suschke of Chesterfield, may receive $2,312,152, based on the tournament's payout rules. That figure comes from the interpleader the tournament filed last August, asking for a judge's ruling on the case. Tournament officials filed the complaint after Heasley and his crew contested tournament charges that they had violated the rules.

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Eight other teams that won money in the tournament would receive varying shares of the remaining $506,510, based on the tournament's payout rules, under the interpleader filing. The judge has not yet issued a ruling on that aspect of the case.

Romeo, who owns a construction company, Kostzyu, a firefighter, and Suschke, a police officer, have not spoken publicly about the potential windfall in the nearly 11 months since tournament officials first announced they were disqualifying Heasley.

Tournament officials, in the Facebook post, said the tournament submitted evidence of the appropriateness of the polygraph examinations, and the reasonableness of its actions in withholding the prize money under the tournament rules.

"The court verified that White Marlin Open, Inc., had applied its rules in a fair manner, had the authority to impose the polygraph upon its participants as a way to verify that rules of the tournament were not violated by the winning anglers," the post said.

"Throughout the case, the intention of the White Marlin Open directors has been to protect the integrity of the tournament and to ensure that the rules are applied fairly for all participants. The White Marlin Open, like many other tournaments, has found that the use of polygraphs is an effective method of ensuring compliance with the rules. The White Marlin Open is pleased that its reputation for integrity, built over its 43-year history, has been upheld," tournament officials wrote.

The tournament, known as the biggest billfish tournament in the world due to the number of teams that participate, has long had a rule requiring any angler and team that wins $50,000 or more in the tournament to take a polygraph exam.

According to the complaint filed by the tournament, in addition to failing the polygraph test, the one of the crew members in a pre-polygraph interview revealed the team had started fishing before the official start time. The complaint also accused the crew of altering the time of the catch of the white marlin on the official catch report to hide the fact they had started fishing before they were permitted to do so.

Jim Motsko, the tournament president, told Delmarva Now that an appeal by Heasley is a possibilty, but that he was relieved to have "these 11 months of hell" over. The 2017 White Marlin Open — the 44th year of the tournament — is set to begin Aug.7.

"As the 2017 tournament approaches, the tournament directors are determined to continue the fair and impartial application of the tournament rules so that all participants have confidence in the results of the tournament," the tournament said in the post. "The tournament directors are committed to maintaining the tournament as an open and enjoyable experience for all anglers, whether professional or amateur, who participate in this world recognized event."

Rich Kostzyu, Damien Romeo and Brian Suschke with their winning 236-pound bigeye tuna at the 2016 White Marlin Open. Photo courtesy of White Marlin Open