Pennsylvania Big Game Hunter Paul Asper Sentenced to 10 Months Confinement, Fined $10,000 For Wildlife, Firearms Violations

A Pennsylvania man with a history of wildlife smuggling convictions was sentenced Tuesday by a federal court to 10 months confinement, two years supervised probation upon release and fined $10,000 for violating federal wildlife and firearms laws. Paul W. Asper of Lock Haven, Penn., pleaded guilty in July to unlawfully importing parts of endangered wildlife--specifically two black rhinoceros horns and other wildlife. Asper also pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing a firearm. Asper was sentenced late Tuesday afternoon by U.S. District Court Judge Joan B. Gottschall for the Northern District of Illinois in Chicago.

Asper, 68, was arrested by agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) at OHare Airport Dec. 24, 1998. Asper was returning from a hunting trip in China when federal customs and wildlife inspectors discovered the black rhinoceros horns (Diceros bicornis), Argali sheep jaw bone, a set of Mongolian gazelle horns and a Ruger M-77 hunting rifle in his luggage. The black rhinoceros and Argali sheep are protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, and Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The Mongolian gazelle, is not protected by U.S. or International laws. However, persons bringing gazelle, or any wildlife parts (horns, hides, etc.) must declare the items on U.S. Customs documents when returning to the United States. Asper failed to declare any wildlife items to U.S. Customs or Service Wildlife Inspectors.

The sentence is the latest in a series of wildlife convictions for Asper. He has previous convictions for illegally importing crocodile and leopard hides, and for smuggling a bald eagle into the United States from Canada. In August 1990, Asper was convicted on 16 counts of smuggling endangered species into the United States, and served 27 months in prison and paid a $140,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence Oliver prosecuted the case for the government.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 94-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 530 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 70 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state fish and wildlife agencies.

For more information about the Service, please visit our web site at: http://midwest.fws.gov