Brian Suschke, Rich Kosztyu, and boat owner Damien Romeo already won $767,091 for catching a 236.5-pound tuna in August.
TRENTON -- The angling over $2.8 million in disputed prize money from a Maryland fishing tournament last month - which could land three New Jerseyans $2.3 million - moved to federal court in Maryland this week.
Brian Suschke, Rich Kosztyu, and boat owner Damien Romeo won $767,091 for catching a 236.5-pound tuna at the White Marlin Open in Ocean City, Md. in August.
But late last month, the tournament announced that a Florida boat that won $2.8 million in the white marlin category - the sole qualifying fish in the category - may have violated tournament rules.
The tournament filed legal action in a Maryland court in late August seeking a judge to decide if the Florida boat, the Kallianassa out of Naples, Fla. and winning angler Phillip Heasley, should get the prize.
Heasley's attorneys on Sept. 8 then filed to move the matter to U.S. District Court in Maryland due to legal jurisdictional reasons, since the tournament is a Maryland business and the defendant lives in Florida.
Polygraph fail could net N.J. fishermen $2.3M
Tournament officials have alleged in prior court filings that fishermen on the winning Kallianassa boat failed polygraph examinations - a requirement for collecting a prize greater of $50,000.
In a statement to 47ABC in Maryland, one of Heasley's attorney's, in announcing the federal court filing, said: "Mr. Heasley and his crew eagerly await the chance to present boat records, eyewitness accounts and other extremely strong evidence to refute the Tournament's allegations in court."
If a judge ultimately decides to void the Kallianassa prize money, the $2.8 million would be spread among other winning boats - with Kosztyu, Suschke, and Romeo earning $2.3 million of it, due to the way they entered the tournament.
In early August, Suschke, a Trenton police sergeant, talked about the catch and how elated he and Kosztyu, a Trenton firefighter, were to win the tuna category with longtime friend Romeo.
Since the legal action was filed, the trio said they would not make any comments while the matter was in the courts.
Romeo's boat, "Hubris," is based in Forked River, in Lacey Township.
Kosztyu and Suschke pose with the tuna on the Hubris. Kevin Shea may be reached at kshea@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter@kevintshea. Find NJ.com on Facebook.