FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                         ENR
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 1995                       (202) 616-2771
                                               TDD (202) 514-1888

                                 
    LEADERS OF INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE SMUGGLING RING SENTENCED

                   Snared By Nationwide Probe 

     WASHINGTON, D.C. -- A federal judge in Los Angeles last
night sentenced two leaders of a wild bird egg smuggling ring to
prison.  The pair were arrested and prosecuted as part of the
Department of Justice's nationwide crackdown on wildlife
smuggling. 

     William Arthur Wegner, 45, of La Jolla, California, and
Brian T. Bradley, 28, of New Paltz, New York, were sentenced to
60 and 41 months in prison respectively for running a scheme that
smuggled more than $1 million in protected wild bird eggs into
the United States from Australia.  The federal judge, David V.
Kenyon also found that Wegner had attempted to obstruct justice
by committing perjury at the trial of a co-defendant last summer. 
Wegner will pay a $10,000 fine.

     Illegal international wildlife smuggling is estimated to be
a $5 billion annual industry, generating more profit than illegal
arms sales and second only to the world-wide drug trade.

     Wegner and Bradley had previously pleaded guilty to
conspiracy charges for their leadership of an nine-year
enterprise during which more than 700 eggs of protected cockatoos
were smuggled from Australia to the United States in violation of
numerous wildlife laws including the Lacey Act, a federal law
that protects wildlife.  Wegner had also pleaded guilty to
underreporting his 1987 income on federal tax forms. 

     Once in the United States, the eggs were hatched, reared and
sold to collectors under the guise that they had been produced by
captive parent birds.  The cockatoos sold for between $1,000 and
$13,000 per bird, depending on the species.  



                              (MORE)
     "This case demonstrates that the United States will track 
down and prosecute those who illegally profit from protected 
wildlife -- particularly when it involves stealing the national
treasures of other countries," said Lois Schiffer, Assistant
Attorney General in charge of the Department's Environment and
Natural Resources Division.  "These crimes threaten not only our
ability but that of the international community to protect
endangered species and global biodiversity,"
                                 
     In addition to Wegner and Bradley, 13 other individuals have
been convicted in California, Florida, New York and Montana for
their part in the cockatoo egg smuggling scheme. 

     From 1983 to 1991, smugglers travelled to Australia each
year during the cockatoo breeding season and removed eggs from
nest sites, often in national park areas.  After several days of
collecting, the eggs were placed in home-made vests which
contained pockets for up to 49 eggs.  As the smugglers left
Australia, the vests were worn underneath outer clothing to
prevent detection by Customs authorities.  Eggs which began to
hatch during transit from Australia to the United States were
destroyed.
     
     The cockatoo species smuggled by the group included the
Rose-Breasted (or Galah) Cockatoo, the Major Mitchell's (or
Leadbeater's) Cockatoo; the Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo, the
Slender-Billed Cockatoo, the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo and the
White-Tailed Black Cockatoo.  

     All Australian cockatoos are protected under the terms of an
international treaty called the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).  CITES is
implemented in the United States by the Endangered Species Act. 
In addition, Australian state and federal laws prohibit the
collection and export of cockatoos or their eggs for commercial
purposes.

     The case was investigated by the Special Operations Branch
of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

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