William R. Kapp, an Illinois corrections officer and taxidermist, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Chicago to spend more than 4 years in prison for his role in orchestrating a Midwest wildlife trafficking ring that bought and killed endangered tigers and leopards in order to sell their hides, parts and meat.
Kapp, a Tinley Park, Ill., resident, must also pay a $5,000 fine and a $1,700 special assessment, and perform 300 hours of community service. He was also sentenced to 3 years of supervised release following his release from prison. Kapp also forfeited all wildlife in his possession that was seized by federal agents.
A federal jury convicted Kapp last April after an eight-day trial, finding him guilty of conspiracy and 16 counts of violating the Endangered Species Act and the Lacey Act – a federal law that prohibits interstate commerce in unlawfully killed wildlife. Kapp was investigated as part of a lengthy U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service probe that revealed the existence of a lucrative and thriving black market for big cat hides, parts and meats.
During the trial, Kapp emerged as the central figure in a group of seven Chicago-area men indicted in May 2002, along with a Lockport, Ill., exotic meat business, for wildlife trafficking. Prosecutors showed that Kapp brokered the sale of 18 captive-bred tigers and leopards obtained from animal dealers and exhibitors in Missouri, Arkansas, Florida and Oklahoma. He participated in killing big cats and other animals that were confined in trailers or cages; their hides, mounts and meats fetched thousands of dollars from buyers in Illinois and Michigan.
“ Our work on this case exposed an ugly underside of the exotic animal business – a world where endangered big cats are turned into trailer-made trophies and meat market specials,” said Special Agent in Charge Mary Jane Lavin, who oversees Service law enforcement efforts in the Midwest. “Today’s sentencing should make others think twice about trying to profit at the expense of protected species.”
The Fish and Wildlife Service investigation--which was closely coordinated with U.S. Attorney offices in Illinois, Missouri and Michigan--produced wildlife trafficking charges against a total of 16 individuals from six states. Only Kapp elected to argue his case before a jury; the 15 other defendants pleaded guilty without trial. Their sentences included the collective payment of more than $200,000 in restitution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s “Save the Tiger” fund.
Service special agents began work on the case, known as Operation Snow Plow, in 1997. They uncovered a loosely organized network of animal dealers, exhibitors, taxidermists and others who were buying, killing, and then selling the parts of a variety of exotic species, including tigers, leopards, snow leopards, lions, mountain lions, cougars, mixed breed big cats and black bears.
Agents were able to penetrate this network and document its crimes firsthand by working undercover as drivers moving animals from one location to another.
Both tigers and leopards are protected as either endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Although federal regulations allow the possession and captive breeding of these cats, it is illegal to kill them for profit or to sell their skins, parts or meats in 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 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.
