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Feds bust coral smuggler in NYC area

prattreef

prattreef

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All corals are CITES listed animals ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CITES ) which does not make them illegal, but it does mean that all species traded need to have trade agreements between the export and import country. In this instance, Dendrophyllia sp.( Dendros) occur in areas that the US does not have CITES agreements with ( yes all the large polyped Dendros are illegally imported). He was busted for 12 of them-- The rest of the case is murky and unclear (To me at least) and seems to indicate penalties for years of unnamed illegal imports that don't seem to realistically add up to the $$$ being stated in the case. Anyway, he screwed up and for whatever reason they made a huge example of him. Sad for him and sad for the hobby.
 
46nBliss

46nBliss

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prattreef said:
All corals are CITES listed animals ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CITES ) which does not make them illegal, but it does mean that all species traded need to have trade agreements between the export and import country. In this instance, Dendrophyllia sp.( Dendros) occur in areas that the US does not have CITES agreements with ( yes all the large polyped Dendros are illegally imported). He was busted for 12 of them-- The rest of the case is murky and unclear (To me at least) and seems to indicate penalties for years of unnamed illegal imports that don't seem to realistically add up to the $$$ being stated in the case. Anyway, he screwed up and for whatever reason they made a huge example of him. Sad for him and sad for the hobby.
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Gotcha thanks for the explaination. It is sad. People who are not in this hobby might look at us all like criminals now.
 
FMF0331

FMF0331

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Rob&Gab said:
he was located in long island i hear.
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NEW YORK ? A New York man who pleaded guilty in March to smuggling protected ocean coral has been sentenced to serve one year and one day in prison.

Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service say Joseph Russo was sentenced Friday in Manhattan federal court and also ordered to pay $523,835 in restitution, a $6,000 fine and be subject to three years of supervised probation.

Authorities say their investigation determined that Russo illegally imported 16,000 pieces of live stony corals from foreign suppliers between 2007 and 2012.

Russo, who owns a marine supplier in West Haverstraw, did not return a call for comment. His attorney also did not immediately return a call for comment.

Corals are live animals that live in oceans and are important parts of the ecosystem
 
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