Lumsden W. Quan, 47, an art dealer from San Francisco,
California, was sentenced today in federal court in Las Vegas, Nevada, to one
year and two days in prison for conspiracy to violate the Lacey and Endangered
Species Acts and to a violation of the Lacey Act for knowingly selling black
rhinoceros horns to an undercover agent from the United States Fish and
Wildlife Service (USFWS). Quan was also
sentenced to three years of supervised release to follow his prison sentence,
pay a $10,000 fine and a three year ban on work in the art and antique
business.
Quan, was arrested in March 2014 as part of “Operation
Crash,” a nation-wide crackdown in the illegal trafficking of rhinoceros horns,
for his role in a conspiracy to knowingly sell black rhinoceros horns across
state lines. In pleading guilty, Quan
admitted to working with his co-defendant, Edward N. Levine, to transport two
horns from California to Nevada, where they sold them to an undercover agent
from Colorado for a sum of $55,000.
Levine, also charged in the indictment, remains scheduled for trial on
March 7, 2016, in Las Vegas. The charges
in an indictment are merely allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent
unless and until proven guilty.
“Wildlife trafficking has become an extremely profitable
type of transnational organized crime and illicit transactions like this are
fueling a global market and leading us closer to a day when rhinoceroses,
elephants and countless other species are extinguished from the earth,” said
Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department’s
Environment and Natural Resources Division.
“The Justice Department is committed to working through our law
enforcement and international partners to reverse this disturbing trend.”
“Prosecuting individuals who profit from the destruction of
an ancient endangered species is critical to stopping the illegal ivory trade’”
said U.S. Attorney Dan Bogden. “There
are no excuses for this type of crime.
Considering the devastating impact on an endangered species, the
offenders should be dealt with appropriately and punished in the criminal
justice system.”
“Illegal trafficking in rhino horn threatens to reverse
decades of rhino conservation work in Africa and Asia, driving rhinos to the
brink of extinction in the wild,” said Director Dan Ashe of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. “Today’s sentencing
demonstrates that the United States takes wildlife trafficking very seriously
and we will do everything possible to identify and disrupt smuggling operations
and hold perpetrators responsible. I’m
very proud of the work of the Office of Law Enforcement for their continued
diligence in bringing these criminals to justice.”
Operation Crash is a continuing investigation being
conducted by USFWS in coordination with other federal and local law enforcement
agencies. A “crash” is the term for a
herd of rhinoceros. Operation Crash is
an ongoing effort to detect, deter and prosecute those engaged in the illegal
killing of rhinoceros and the unlawful trafficking of rhinoceros horns. As of November 2015, the coordinated efforts
of Operation Crash has prosecuted and sentenced nearly 22 subjects and received
forfeiture and restitution amounts totaling $5.5 million.
The black rhinoceros is an herbivore species of prehistoric
origin and one of the largest remaining mega-fauna on earth. They have no known predators other than
humans. All species of rhinoceros are
protected under U.S. and international law, including the Endangered Species
Act. Since 1976, trade in rhinoceros
horn has been regulated under the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty signed by over 180
countries around the world to protect fish, wildlife and plants that are or may
become imperiled due to the demands of international markets.
The investigation was handled by the USFWS’s Office of Law
Enforcement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Nevada and the
Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section. The government is represented by Trial
Attorneys Jennifer Blackwell and Ryan Connors, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathryn
Newman and paralegal Amanda Backer.
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