Current:Home > MarketsMan fined $50K in Vermont for illegally importing carvings made of sperm whale teeth, walrus tusk -TradeSphere
Man fined $50K in Vermont for illegally importing carvings made of sperm whale teeth, walrus tusk
View
Date:2025-04-25 00:06:02
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A California man has been fined $50,000 in Vermont for illegally importing carvings made from sperm whale teeth and walrus tusk across the U.S.-Canadian border, federal prosecutors said.
The man and his wife arrived at the Highgate Springs border crossing after buying nine Inuit carvings from an art gallery in Montreal, according to court papers. He told a U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer that he was bringing back one stone statue from Quebec, court papers said. The officer inspected the trunk and found nine statues, including four made of ivory, the Vermont U.S. attorney’s office said.
The man, who was living in Cambridge, Massachusetts, at the time, admitted that the four were made from walrus tusk and Customs and Border Protection seized them. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service later determined that three of those carvings were made of sperm whale teeth and the fourth was made of walrus tusk, prosecutors said.
The 69-year-old man on Tuesday pleaded guilty in federal court in Burlington to a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully importing wildlife parts and was sentenced to a fine of $50,000. A phone message was left with his attorney, seeking comment.
Sperm whales are an endangered species and are protected under the Endangered Species Act and, like walruses, are also protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, the U.S. attorney’s office said.
Certain import and export permits are required to import parts from these protected mammals into the U.S., which the man had not obtained, prosecutors said.
veryGood! (256)
Related
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- Why ex-NFL player Shareece Wright went public with allegations he was sexually assaulted by Tiffany Strauss
- Robert Downey Jr.'s Shoutout to Wife Susan at the 2024 SAG Awards Proves She's the Real Avenger
- Love Is Blind’s Jimmy Defends His Comment About Not Wanting to Have Sex With Chelsea
- Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
- Consumers are increasingly pushing back against price increases — and winning
- Have a look at the whos, whats and whens of leap year through time
- These Candid 2024 SAG Awards Moments Will Make You Feel Like You Were There
- IRS recovers $4.7 billion in back taxes and braces for cuts with Trump and GOP in power
- Vigils held nationwide for nonbinary Oklahoma teenager who died following school bathroom fight
Ranking
- Meet first time Grammy nominee Charley Crockett
- Wildfires are killing California's ancient giants. Can seedlings save the species?
- Flaco, owl that escaped from the Central Park Zoo, dies after colliding with building
- Draft RNC resolution would block payment of candidate's legal bills
- Federal hiring is about to get the Trump treatment
- ‘The Bear,’ ‘Spider-Verse’ among the early winners at Producers Guild awards
- What's the best place to see the April 2024 solar eclipse? One state is the easy answer.
- Alexey Navalny's body has been handed over to his mother, aide says
Recommendation
DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
Why ex-NFL player Shareece Wright went public with allegations he was sexually assaulted by Tiffany Strauss
What caused the AT&T outage? Company's initial review says it wasn't a cyberattack
Inexpensive Clothing Basics on Amazon that Everyone Needs in Their Wardrobe STAT
Krispy Kreme offers a free dozen Grinch green doughnuts: When to get the deal
Death toll rises to 10 after deadly fire in Spain's southern city of Valencia, authorities say
H&R Block wiped out tax data of filers looking for less pricey option, FTC alleges
He didn't want his sister to die. But her suffering helped him understand her choice