For years, Mary Mahoney’s Old French House Restaurant, a Biloxi institution known nationwide, bought foreign, frozen seafood from a local supplier and sold it to unsuspecting customers as fresh Gulf seafood, federal prosecutors allege and the restaurant now has admitted.

The restaurant will forfeit $1.35 million to the federal government after pleading guilty Thursday to one felony charge of conspiring to defraud customers by mislabeling seafood and furthering the conspiracy through wire fraud, a plea agreement says. Mahoney’s co-owner Anthony “Tony” Cvitanovich pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to mislabel seafood.

Between 2013 and November 2019, when the restaurant was raided for unknown reasons, Mahoney’s bought from an unnamed Biloxi supplier and co-conspirator more than 29 tons of lake perch, tripletail, triggerfish and unicorn filefish from Africa, India or South America and passed it off as premium Gulf red snapper, snapper and redfish, the government’s charging documents say.

“The conspirators thereby benefited from the sale of seafood that would not have been as marketable nor as profitably sold if its actual species and origin had been known,” say federal prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi.

At Mary Mahoney’s historic restaurant Thursday, it was business as usual. Co-owner Bobby Mahoney, the famous face of the restaurant, was not charged with a crime. Mary Mahoney and her brother Andrew Cvitanovich, both deceased, founded the restaurant and passed it down to their heirs.

Mahoney, standing in the restaurant’s courtyard during lunch, would not comment on the charges. Instead, his attorney Michael Cavanaugh of Biloxi, stepped out of the restaurant and answered a few questions about the case. He said what happened with the misbranding of fish was “a glitch.”

Cavanaugh added: “They made a mistake. It was resolved. They’re moving on.”

He declined to say anything more.

Anthony Cvitanovich is free on an unsecured bond pending sentencing in September. He faces a maximum sentence of up to three years in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.

“Over the past five years, we have had extensive discussions with the federal government over inaccurate, entree descriptions of a certain item on our menu,” said Gulfport attorney Tim Holleman, who represents Cvitanovich. “This issue was immediately corrected five years ago.”

“Mary Mahoney’s will continue doing what we have done best since 1964, which is serving our valued customers with impeccable service. We take pride in serving the highest quality steaks and seafood in a beautifully preserved, historic home.”

Biloxi co-conspirators named

The U.S. government also has listed three unnamed co-conspirators involved in supplying Mahoney’s with the fish.

Co-conspirator No. 1: A co-owner of Mary Mahoney’s and possibly Anthony Cvitanovich, based on the court records.

Co-conspirator # 2: A Biloxi wholesale and retail business with cafe that sold seafood to restaurants, casinos and the public

Co-conspirator #3: The business manager for the Biloxi wholesale and retail business for six years, beginning in 2014. The certified public accountant oversaw the business and about 35 employees, managed seafood purchases from suppliers and monitored wholesale and retail prices.

Co-conspirator #4: The sales manager for the wholesale and retail outlet since 1993. The sales manager oversaw the business manager and salesmens’ sales to wholesalers, restaurants and casinos.

In November 2019, the Sun Herald reported on a raid at Mary Mahoney’s. At the time, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration executed a search warrant at Mary Mahoney’s.

A note taped to the green gate outside the building says “Mary Mahoney’s will be closed today for Lunch! Sorry for the inconvenience!”

Bobby Mahoney told the Sun Herald that 15 to 20 agents swarmed the building just after 8:30 a.m., and employees prepping for lunch were told to leave.

“I think it’s about fish,” he said, and that to his knowledge he had not done anything wrong.

“Myself, I think it’s very trivial,” Mahoney said. For example, he said he has red snapper on the menu, and there are probably 50 to 60 varieties of red snapper.

The FDA regulates food safety and runs a mandatory fish inspection program for all seafood processors and retailers, including restaurants.

The iconic downtown Biloxi restaurant was opened by the Mahoney family and has established a reputation as one of the premiere seafood restaurants on the Gulf.

After Thursday’s plea agreement, Southern District U.S. Attorney Todd W. Gee issued a news release in which he said:

“When people spend their hard-earned dollars to enjoy the incredible local seafood on the Mississippi Gulf Coast, they should get what they paid for, not frozen fish from overseas. Mislabeling food and defrauding customers are serious crimes, and this case will help convince restaurants and seafood suppliers that it is not worth lying to customers about what is on the menu.”