Anaheim 夫妇认罪获刑：贩运犀牛角、虎皮与熊胆等受保护野生动物制品 各判三年缓刑并罚款一万美元
俄勒冈州 Eugene——美国司法部10月23日宣布，加州 Anaheim 居民 Linh Luu 与 Kevin Le 夫妇当天在位于 Eugene 的联邦法院承认违反《莱西法案》（Lacey Act）；法院判处两人各三年缓刑，并各处罚金10,000美元。司法部称，两人参与了在俄勒冈州与越南之间贩运受保护野生动物的活动。
根据法庭文件与庭上陈述，Luu 与 Le 承认，2019年9月至2021年5月期间，他们经手了共51,100美元的款项，协助一名身在越南的个人将野生动物制品非法运入和运出俄勒冈州。运往越南的制品包括美洲黑熊胆与美洲狮骨骼；运入俄勒冈州的则包括狮牙、黑犀牛与白犀牛的犀牛角切片，以及一张虎皮。
政府提交的量刑文件显示，2020年12月，Luu 与 Le 在一处停车场与一名联邦卧底探员会面，收下12,000美元现金，作为购买一部分犀牛角的首付款，并商讨如何规避可能察觉非法交易的美国银行监管规定。此后，两人各收到近5,000美元的电子转账，作为该段犀牛角的款项；这段犀牛角随后被伪装成家居装饰品运入俄勒冈州。文件称，这笔交易在商谈时被定位为建立信任，以便日后进行更大额的交易。
司法部表示，本案涉及的全部野生动物物种均被列入《濒危野生动植物种国际贸易公约》（CITES），美国、越南与另外183个国家的政府均为该公约缔约方；名录物种的贸易未经许可一律禁止，而两人并未取得许可。黑熊与美洲狮是俄勒冈州的本土物种；狮、虎以及黑犀牛、白犀牛同时受美国《濒危物种法》保护。《莱西法案》是美国历史最悠久的野生动物贩运法律，禁止买卖非法进口或出口的野生动物等行为。
此案由司法部环境与自然资源司（ENRD）首席副助理部长 Adam Gustafson、俄勒冈区联邦检察官 Scott E. Bradford 与美国鱼类和野生动物管理局（USFWS）助理局长 Douglas Ault 宣布。案件由鱼类和野生动物管理局执法办公室调查，国土安全调查局（HSI）与俄勒冈州警察局提供协助；司法部环境犯罪科高级出庭律师 Ryan Connors 与俄勒冈区助理联邦检察官 William McLaren 负责起诉。案件编号为26-cr-00297，在美国俄勒冈区联邦地区法院审理。
Anaheim Couple Pleads Guilty and Is Sentenced for Trafficking Rhino Horn, a Tiger Pelt and Bear Gallbladders
EUGENE, Oregon — Linh Luu and Kevin Le, a husband and wife from Anaheim, California, pleaded guilty on October 23 in federal court in Eugene to violating the Lacey Act, the U.S. Department of Justice announced. The court sentenced each of them to three years of probation and a $10,000 fine for their roles in trafficking protected wildlife between Oregon and Vietnam.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Luu and Le admitted that from September 2019 through May 2021, they processed $51,100 in payments to aid an individual in Vietnam in illegally moving wildlife items to and from Oregon. The wildlife parts shipped to Vietnam included American black bear gallbladders and cougar bones; those imported into Oregon included lion teeth, segments from black rhinoceros and white rhinoceros horns, and a tiger pelt.
According to a sentencing submission filed by the government, Luu and Le met an undercover federal agent in a parking lot in December 2020. They accepted $12,000 in cash as a down payment for part of a rhino horn and discussed ways to avoid U.S. banking regulations that could detect illicit transactions. They later each received nearly $5,000 in electronic payments for the horn segment, which was then shipped to Oregon disguised as a household decoration. The sale was discussed as a way to build trust for future, larger deals.
All of the wildlife species whose parts were trafficked in this case are listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by the United States, Vietnam and 183 other governments; trade in listed species is prohibited without a permit, which the defendants did not obtain. Black bears and cougars are native to Oregon. Lions, tigers, and black and white rhinoceroses are also protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Lacey Act is the country's oldest wildlife trafficking statute and prohibits, among other things, buying or selling wildlife that was illegally imported or exported.
Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD), U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon, and Assistant Director Douglas Ault of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) made the announcement. The USFWS Office of Law Enforcement investigated the case, with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Oregon State Police. Senior Trial Attorney Ryan Connors of ENRD's Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney William McLaren for the District of Oregon prosecuted the case, No. 26-cr-00297, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon.
来源：GSM·美国（原文链接）
图片来源：图：坦桑尼亚 Ngorongoro 保护区的一头黑犀牛（资料图）；本案被贩运的制品包括黑犀牛与白犀牛的犀牛角切片。Photo: A black rhinoceros in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania (file photo). Yoky via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0.
