Czimer entered his plea before Judge Blanche M. Manning at the U.S. District Court in Chicago. In his plea, Czimer admitted that between August 1997 and October 31, 1998, he also purchased the carcasses of 16 federally-protect tigers, four lions, two mountain lions and one liger (a tiger-lion hybrid). The animals were then skinned, butchered and sold as "lion meat" at Czimers Meat and Seafood, Inc., realizing a profit of more than $38,000. Czimer said he purchased the carcasses from co-defendants William Kapp of Tinley Park, Ill., Steven Galecki of Crete, Ill., and Kevin Ramsey formerly of Oak Forest, Ill., and now living in Wisconsin
Czimer is scheduled to be sentenced June 27, 2003. As part of his guilty plea, Czimer has agreed to pay $116,000 in restitution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundations Save the Tiger Fund.
Czimer, was among seven men indicted in Chicago in May 2002 on numerous wildlife protection and trafficking charges. A total of 17 individuals and one business in eight states were charged as a result of a lengthy investigation by special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service into the trafficking of exotic animals . Service investigators, working closely with U.S. Attorneys Offices in Illinois, Missouri and Michigan uncovered a group of residents and small business owners in the Midwest that allegedly bought and killed exotic tigers, leopards, snow leopards, lions, mountain lions, cougars, mixed breed cats and black bears with the intention of introducing meat and skins into the lucrative animal parts trade.
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, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System which encompasses more than 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.
