Texas Man Gets 6 Months for Illegally Importing Wildlife Items
Richard Kazmaier, former associate professor of biology at West Texas A&M University, was sentenced to six months in prison, three years of post-release supervision and a $5,000 fine for "importing protected wildlife" without declaring it or getting the proper permits, DOJ announced Jan. 11. Kazmaier admitted to importing around 358 wildlife items -- skulls, skeletons and taxidermy mounts -- in violation of the Lacey Act.
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The defendant resigned from the university in October. He was charged in January 2022 with smuggling goods into the U.S. and two violations of the Endangered Species Act. Kazmaier ultimately pleaded guilty to a superseding indictment charging him with Lacey Act violations; the original indictment was dismissed. He admitted to importing wildlife items, from 2013 to 2020, from Bulgaria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Indonesia, Latvia, Norway, Russia, South Africa, Spain, the U.K. and Uruguay into Texas without declaring them.