A federal judge in Gainesville, Florida, on June 20 sentenced Milan Hrabovsky to 40 months in prison and three years subsequent supervised probation for smuggling endangered wildlife into the United States.
Hrabovsky, a resident of Gainesville, owned and operated businesses that specialized in selling Amazonian tribal artifacts from Brazil to customers in the United States and elsewhere. He sold tribal artifacts such as head dresses and masks made of feathers and other parts from protected wildlife species including blue and yellow macaws, red and green macaws, scarlet macaws, and jaguar.
Hrabovsky’s sentence, handed down by Senior U.S. District Court Judge Maurice Paul is one of the longest prison terms given for wildlife-related criminal activities.
Hrabovsky pleaded guilty in March to three felony counts--a Lacey Act smuggling count, a U.S. Customs Service smuggling count and obstruction of justice--as part of a plea agreement.
The case was investigated by Ohio-based U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Daniel LeClair and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory McMahon of the Gainesville Division.
A federal grand jury indicted Hrabovsky in March 2003 in Gainesville on 17 felony counts related to the smuggling of wildlife protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Flora and Fauna and the subsequent sale of crafts made of protected feathers and other wildlife parts to customers throughout the United States. His activities also violated Brazilian law.
The Lacey Act makes it unlawful to sell any wildlife taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law, treaty or regulation of the United States.
Another defendant, Ohio resident Jeffrey Sadofsky of Cleveland, entered into a plea agreement, providing federal agents with information at the onset of the investigation which allowed the investigation to expand. A federal grand jury in Cleveland indicted Sadofsky in May 2002 on felony and misdemeanor Lacey Act counts stemming from a shipment of Amazonian tribal art, composed of CITES wildlife. The shipment was en route from Brazil to Sadofsky in Ohio when it was seized by U.S. Customs outside of Washington, D.C., at the Dulles Airport International Mail facility.
A number of other people have been investigated throughout the United States and are awaiting charges in connection with this case. Brazilian authorities are continuing their investigation as well.
The Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, (CITES) makes it unlawful to engage in the trade of any specimens, or to possess any specimens traded contrary to the provisions of the Convention. The United States is a member of the Convention and as such works in cooperation with other member countries to regulate and monitor populations which are being commercially exploited.
CITES is a treaty among party nations dedicated to protecting fish, wildlife and plants from commercial exploitation and illegal global trade. The United States administers CITES through the Endangered Species Act and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforces CITES regulations through its Office of Law Enforcement.
Other agencies that participated in the investigation included the Gainesville Police Department, Alachua County Sheriffs Department, the Postal Inspection Service and the Brazilian Federal Police.
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 540 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 64 fishery resource offices and 81 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.
