by Calvin Ishee, Associate Publisher

At the June 1, 2021 Board of Alderman meeting former Pass Christian Mayor Ted Lawyer lambasted the City for failing to curtail an alleged illegal commercial business in his neighborhood.

Lawyer lives in the Oak Park subdivision and claimed that he’d been complaining to the City for at least six months if not a year about a commercial seafood business operating illegally in a residential area.   

Lawyer said that the “smell is horrendous,” despite the fact that the business owners have been trying to hide the smell with bleach.

As the result of the complaint by Lawyer and other local residents, on August 25, 2021, Pass Christian City Judge “Skip” Negrotto ordered Minh Truong and Le Nguyet to immediately stop running their commercial seafood business from their residential home.

Under a plea agreement both Truong and Nguyet plead guilty and the judge accepted most conditions of the plea agreement.

Judge Negrotto rendered his decision that included a sentence of 90 days in jail for both counts and a $1,000 fine plus court costs.

The judge then suspended all penalties for six months. He told Truong and Nguyet that if there were no other violations within the next six months, the City would drop all charges and fines.

If however they violated these conditions, all penalties would be reinstated and enforced.

Judge Negrotto commented, you had a “ very successful operation but you can’t continue doing it where you are”.

Truong  and Nguyet agreed to the terms and stated that they had already purchased a property in Long Beach and they are just waiting for construction to be completed.

Minh stated that they have in fact shut down their operation and currently have no income due to their operation being closed.

Their next hearing has been set for Wednesday, February 23, 2022. The judge will review the case to ensure that the owners have fully abided by the plea agreement.

Judge Negrotto commented, “No offence and it goes away, no penalty order’.

The Pass Christian City Judge then wished them “Good Luck.”