Overview
- Adam Bied, 40, pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States and two counts of violating the Lacey Act.
- Prosecutors say he traded in protected wildlife parts from January 2018 to June 2021, failed to declare imports to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and used false labels to evade detection.
- Authorities say orders came from suppliers in Cameroon and Indonesia, with packages misdeclared as items such as decorative masks or rodents.
- Bied consented to civil forfeiture of more than 100 items seized in July 2021 from his home, a storage unit, and a vehicle, including orangutan and tiger skulls, a jaguar skin, a polar bear skull, a narwhal tusk, and a pangolin skull.
- He is scheduled for sentencing on April 2 and faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine, with prosecutors recommending an eight-month term as part of the plea agreement.