The owners of New York-based Anchor Frozen Foods pleaded guilty to a $1.1 million (€990,000) scheme to pass off giant squid as octopus.
Roy Tuccillo, Sr. and Roy Tuccillo, Jr. imported giant squid from Peru, then used email and wire transactions to sell the products to retailers across several US states, in violation of the US Lacey Act.
Peruvian giant squid is often used to make calamari rings, but is required to be labeled as either squid or calamari.
The Tuccillos sold, marketed and distributed around 113,000 pounds of squid.
The pair face five years of jail time, three years of post-release supervision and a fine of up to $250,000 (€226,000).
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