Unalaska, AK – On Tuesday, Victor Chavez-Ramirez, 28, pleaded guilty to sexually harassing a National Marine Fisheries Service observer while aboard the vessel Frontier Spirit in 2008.

Because Chavez-Ramirez is a Mexican citizen and was working in the United States illegally, U.S. Magistrate Judge Deborah Smith sentenced him to be deported and fined him $1,500. She also set a probationary term of three years, and ordered that Chavez-Ramirez enroll in sexual harassment training and avoid work in the fishing industry during the terms of his probation.

Chavez-Ramirez was arrested in November in Unalaska while working on the Frontier Explorer, the sister vessel to the Frontier Spirit. Both vessels are owned by the Seattle-based company Clipper Seafoods, Ltd. He was arraigned last week, and his trial had initially been set for January.

Charges of sexual assault and of interfering with the work of a federal fisheries observer were dropped as part of the plea bargain. The plaintiff was satisfied with the sentence.