Overview
- Federal prosecutors charged Igor Lytvynchuk after a bystander video showed him hurling a rock toward a Hawaiian monk seal on a Maui beach.
- He was arrested near Seattle and released on a personal recognizance bond with his passport surrendered, with a hearing to follow in Honolulu federal court.
- His attorney says he threw the rock to scare the seal away from sea turtles and did not intend harm, citing his past run-ins with aggressive sea lions while fishing.
- A complaint cites witnesses who heard him say he was rich enough to pay fines, a wording the defense disputes as a misheard “I can afford it,” and the lawyer says he was later assaulted after the clip spread online.
- If convicted, he faces up to one year in prison on each count and fines up to $50,000 under the Endangered Species Act and up to $20,000 under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, with prosecutors pointing to the video and witness accounts as key evidence.