EUGENE, Oregon — An Anaheim, California, husband and wife pleaded guilty on Friday in federal court in Eugene to trafficking protected wildlife between Oregon and Vietnam, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice

Linh Luu and Kevin Le pleaded guilty to violating the Lacey Act, the federal law that bans illegal import and export of wildlife. The court sentenced each of them to three years' probation and a $10,000 fine.

$51,100Payments the couple admitted processing, 2019-2021
$12,000Cash down payment accepted from an undercover agent for rhino horn
3 yearsProbation for each defendant, plus a $10,000 fine each

According to court documents and statements made in court, Luu and Le admitted that from September 2019 through May 2021 they processed $51,100 in payments to help an individual in Vietnam illegally move wildlife items to and from Oregon. The parts shipped to Vietnam included American black bear gallbladders and cougar bones, while lion teeth, segments of black and white rhinoceros horns and a tiger pelt were imported into Oregon, the Justice Department said.

Source: MyNewsLA

A government sentencing submission said the couple met an undercover federal agent in a parking lot in December 2020 and accepted $12,000 in cash as a down payment for part of a rhino horn, discussing ways to avoid U.S. banking rules that could detect the transactions. They later each received nearly $5,000 in electronic payments for the horn segment, which was shipped to Oregon disguised as a household decoration, in a sale prosecutors described as a way to build trust for larger future deals.

All of the wildlife in the case is listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which regulates trade in species that are or may become threatened, and lions, tigers and rhinoceroses are also protected under the Endangered Species Act. Trade in the listed species requires a permit, and the couple had none, according to the Justice Department.