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Reading Man Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Endangered Wildlife Parts

Prosecutors will seek an eight-month prison term at an April 2 sentencing following his plea.

Overview

  • He pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to smuggle goods and two counts of violating the Lacey Act in federal court in Massachusetts.
  • Prosecutors say his trafficking spanned January 2018 to June 2021 and involved buying, selling, and trading parts from threatened and endangered species.
  • He sourced items from suppliers in Cameroon and Indonesia and concealed imports by mislabeling shipments as decorative masks or rodents.
  • He consented to the civil forfeiture of more than 100 seized items taken in July 2021 from his residence, storage unit, and vehicle, including orangutan and tiger skulls, a jaguar skin, and a narwhal tusk.
  • Court records detail MoneyGram and PayPal payments for specific specimens, including baboon, pangolin, and orangutan skulls.