U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman departed upward from the sentencing guildelines, citing evidence presented by U.S. Fish and Wildlife investigators that Kum conspired to smuggle women from Thailand to Singapore to work as prostitutes. Adelman also ordered Kum to repay the government $8,120; the amount federal agents spent on making undercover purchases from Kum.

Kum, 34, and Reid E. Turowski, an exotic animal dealer in Waukesha, Wis., were indicted July 22, 2003, on 13 counts alleging conspiracy to smuggle, falsely label wildlife, trade in endangered species and money laundering. Kum pleaded guilty Nov. 26, 2003 to conspiracy and money laundering charges. Turowski pleaded guilty Dec. 23, 2003 to conspiracy to smuggle, falsely label wildlife and trade in endangered species. He is scheduled to be sentenced April 16, 2004.

Between September 2002 and June 23, 2003, Kum and his associates in Thailand and Singapore obtained protected species of reptiles and other wildlife and shipped them via Federal Express to customers in the United States in violation of Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and U.S. wildlife importation law. Kum smuggled dozens of exotic reptiles to Turowski, falsely listing the contents as ?wooden crafts? or other legal materials. He also used an alias when providing shipper information. Reptile species sent to Turowski included Radiated tortoises, Indian star tortoises, Burmese star tortoises, snake neck turtles, Hermann's tortoises, pancake tortoises, fly river turtles, Borneo black leaf turtles and Chinese water dragons. Turowski, then sold them to reptile fanciers through his reptile business, ?Captive Bred Specialties,? in Waukesha, and over the Internet.

Kum instructed his customers to wire transfer payments to a bank account in Bankok, Thailand belonging to his girlfriend. He instructed Turowski to send payments, in the form of cashiers checks, to a third party in New Jersey, who then cashed the checks and wired the funds to the bank account in Bankok,

Kum's sentence is the result of a cooperative investigation by special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Department of Homeland Security) and the U.S. Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Frohling prosecuted the government's case.