Justice Department hits Gibson guitars with $300G fine

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The Justice Department announced Monday that it has resolved a long-running dispute with Gibson Guitar over questionable fingerboard shipments -- in a case that became a political flashpoint last year as defenders of the storied guitar-maker claimed the government crackdown went too far.

According to the department, Gibson entered a "criminal enforcement agreement" resolving the investigation. The federal government will not charge Gibson, but the company has apparently agreed to pay a $300,000 penalty, pay $50,000 to a federal conservation fund and withdraw claims to the valuable fingerboards that were seized in a series of federal raids.

"This criminal enforcement agreement goes a long way in demonstrating the government's commitment to protecting the world's natural resources," U.S. Attorney Jerry Martin said in a statement.

The shipments of wood from Madagascar and India were deemed illegal because they were unfinished -- something those countries prohibited. However, finished fingerboards presumably would have been legal. In the Indian case, court documents said one intercepted shipment was "falsely" labeled as finished when it wasn't.

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