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Federal Wildlife Investigation Leads to Felony Conviction of Two Minnesota Women On January 13, 2009, Pa Lor and Tia Yang, both of Minnesota, were sentenced for conspiracy to import wildlife into the United States. U.S. District Court Judge Joan Ericksen sentenced both women to two years of probation. In addition, Yang was sentenced to five months home confinement, 40 hours of community service and ordered to pay a $9,000 fine. As part of Lor’s sentence, she also agreed to work with federal officials to develop educational materials designed specifically for the Hmong community. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Minnesota, represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney LeeAnn K. Bell prosecuted the case. The case against the two women began on October 23, 2005, when Lor was found attempting to smuggle more than 1,300 pieces of wildlife into the country through the Minneapolis/St. Paul International Airport. This discovery was the beginning of a more than three year, multi-agency investigation into Lor and Yang’s illegal wildlife smuggling operation. The investigation was a cooperative effort between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Smuggling Endangered Species and Other Wildlife While going through the normal interview process administered to all people entering the country, an alert U.S. Customs agent decided that something was not quite right. The agent determined that Pa Lor needed to go to the “secondary” or more intensive level of inspection, before being allowed into the U.S. During this secondary interview and inspection process, Customs agents found numerous items that appeared to be parts and pieces of wildlife in Lor’s luggage. Not being experts in the identification of fish and wildlife, the U.S. Customs Agents called on-site U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Wildlife Inspector Linda Benson. Benson, along with Chicago-based Wildlife Inspector Tamesha Woulard who happened to be working in Minneapolis at the time, arrived at the scene and quickly recognized they were looking at a significant amount of wildlife. Many of the items in Lor’s possession were immediately identified as part of internationally endangered species. “I’ve been working at this airport for a long time and I’ve seen a lot of things,” said Benson. “So, even with the massive quantity of wildlife pieces we found, we were able to recognize many of these items were illegal to bring into the U.S. Specifically, the primate and elephant parts stood out. A monkey hand or foot looks very much like a human, so when you see it lying on a counter, it attracts your attention….and, it leaves an impression.” In all, 1,388 parts and piece of wildlife were confiscated from Pa Lor’s luggage. Parts of serow, douc langur, Asian elephant, slow loris, clouded leopard and many other internationally protected species were found. As part of Inspector Benson’s investigation at the scene, she was also able to determine that it appeared Lor’s intent was to bring these items into the U.S. and then sell them at her place of business. “The vast majority of wildlife importation violations I find are the result of ignorance,” said Benson. “People simply don’t know they can’t bring some wildlife items into the U.S. In fact, some people often don’t make the connection that what they have is wildlife. They claim jewelry, clothing or medicine on their Customs forms and are genuinely surprised when I inform them that they actually are importing wildlife pieces.” While ignorance of the law is no excuse, in most cases that wildlife inspectors determine travelers were not trying to intentionally break the law, the items are just confiscated. “Even if it was a true case of just not knowing or understanding the law, we still can’t allow the wildlife into the country,” explained Benson. “So, the person agrees to abandon the items and that is the end of it.” However, in the case of Pa Lor, the sheer volume of the items, the intentional concealment of items and the intent to commercially sell the items made it clear this was not a mistake. “This was a planned conspiracy to illegally import wildlife into the United States,” said Assistant United States Attorney LeeAnn K. Bell, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Minnesota. “The facts left no doubt that this was not a case of misunderstanding the laws.” Commercial Exploitation of Wildlife and Profiteering As part of the investigation, Agent O’Connor arranged for two undercover operations at Lor’s place of business. During both undercover operations, agents were sold parts of endangered species. During one of these undercover buys, Lor actually explained how she was able to illegally bring these items into the country. In addition, she told the agent because these items were illegal to possess, he needed to be careful how he transported the items to ensure he wasn't caught with them. “Thanks to the great work of our undercover agents and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Forensics Lab, we added a few missing pieces to the puzzle,” said O’Connor. “We knew this wasn’t a misunderstanding, this wasn’t because of any communication barriers or lack of knowledge. Pa Lor knew what she was doing was illegal and she intentionally tried to hide her illegal activities. This was a case of pure profiteering at the expense of hundreds of endangered species. Pa Lor did this for pure profit.” Cultural Traditions “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is not making any judgment on people’s beliefs,” commented O’Connor. “I sometimes wear a crucifix around my neck because of what I believe. I know people who carry a rabbit foot for luck. I usually make myself of bowl of chicken soup when I get a cold. I can’t call another person’s beliefs any stranger than mine.” “However, my desire to have chicken soup is not causing chickens to go extinct. The soup has been legally transported and inspected. I am not knowingly, or unknowingly breaking any laws,” said O’Connor. “People who illegally import wildlife are breaking United States laws, International laws and driving species to extinction. I can accept why people use these items, but it doesn’t make it right, and it doesn’t make it legal.” Why We Protect Wildlife from Illegal Commercialization What Is Being Done Education For More Information The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit http://www.fws/gov. -FWS-
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