Man Pleads Guilty to Importing Sperm Whale Teeth in Lacey Violation
The Justice Department has announced that on October 3, 2011, Richard Ertel of Virginia pleaded guilty to two felony violations of the Lacey Act by illegally importing and illegal trafficking sperm whale teeth. As part of the plea, Ertel admitted that from April 2002 to June 2007, he was in the business of buying and selling sperm whale teeth that he purchased from sources in the Ukraine, and then sold to customers in Virginia and elsewhere in the U.S. He admitted to conducting much of his business via the Internet. Ertel could be sentenced up to five years in prison and fined up to $250,000 for each count. Sentencing is scheduled for January 2012.
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(Sperm whales are classified as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act and are listed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) of Wild Fauna and Flora. It is illegal to import parts of sperm whale teeth into the U.S. without the requisite permits and certifications, and without declaring the merchandise at the time of importation to Customs and the Fish and Wildlife Service.)