Rivers admitted to the court that in August 1998, he sold two black leopards to a buyer in Illinois through an animal dealer in Cape Girardeau, Mo., for $750 each. He also admitted to falsifying federal documents (U.S. Department of Agriculture Form 7020) to indicate the sale of the leopards was a "donation." Rivers also admitted to being involved in the illegal sale of an endangered Bengal tiger to the same Cape Girardeau, Mo., animal dealer on October 27, 1998. Following the sale of the tiger, Rivers again falsified the USDA Form 7020 to indicate the tiger sale was a donation. The tiger was transported from Florida to Missouri and then on to Illinois where it was killed four days later.
Rivers was among five people indicted in St. Louis last November following a lengthy undercover investigation "Operation Snow Plow," by special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The agents, working closely with the U.S. Attorneys Offices in Missouri, Illinois and Michigan uncovered a group of residents and small business owners in the Midwest that allegedly bought and killed exotic tigers, leopards, lions, mountain lions, cougars and other exotic animals with the intention of selling the meat, skins and other parts into the lucrative animal parts trade. Federal wildlife charges were later brought against three defendants in Michigan and seven individuals and one exotic foods business in Illinois.
Rivers is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 20 in Cape Girardeau, Mo. He faces a maximum penalty of one year confinement, a fine of $100,000 and up to one year supervised probation. The other Missouri defendants, Todd and Vicki Lantz of Cape Girardeau, Mo., and Stoney Elam of Fort Gibson, Okla., have already pleaded guilty to multiple violations of federal wildlife laws and will be sentenced later this fall. Freddy Wilmoth of Gentry, Ark., was sentenced in May to six months home confinement, three years probation and ordered to pay $10,000 to the Fish and Wildlife Foundations Save the Tiger Fund for violating the federal Endangered Species Act. He was also sentenced to serve two weekends in jail and pay a $25 special assessment.
Tigers are listed as "endangered" under the federal Endangered Species Act. The law also protects leopards, which are classified as either "endangered" or "threatened" depending on the location of the wild population. Although federal regulations allow possession of captive-bred tigers, the regulations stipulate activities involving their use must be to enhance the propagation or survival of the species. It is unlawful to kill the animals for profit, or to sell their hides, parts or meats into interstate commerce.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting, and enhancing fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95 million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses nearly 540 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 further information about programs and activities of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Great Lakes-Big Rivers Region, visit our website at " facehttp://midwest.fws.gov
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