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http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 7VRG4N.DTL
PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco man has been sentenced to two months in federal prison and four months in home confinement for selling an endangered species of fish over the Internet.
Danny Yep, 27, sold an Asian arowana fish in July 2004 to an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent on an Internet site called Aquabid, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said in sentencing Yep. At a hearing March 20 in San Francisco, White also fined Yep $2,000 and placed him on three years' probation.
Yep pleaded guilty in December to a felony count of violating the Lacey Act, which makes it illegal to sell an endangered species. He admitted that he knew the fish was listed as endangered and that both the importation and sale of the fish were illegal.
The Asian arowana fish, also known as Asian boney tongue fish, is native to Indonesia and Malaysia, federal prosecutors said. Many Chinese people consider it to be a symbol of good luck, and a single fish can cost $3,000, authorities said.
Yep's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Jodi Linker, wrote in a sentencing memorandum, "While Mr. Yep acknowledges the significance and seriousness of his offense and admits that he made a terrible mistake in selling this fish, the evidence establishes that Mr. Yep only engaged in this one sale."
PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- A San Francisco man has been sentenced to two months in federal prison and four months in home confinement for selling an endangered species of fish over the Internet.
Danny Yep, 27, sold an Asian arowana fish in July 2004 to an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent on an Internet site called Aquabid, U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White said in sentencing Yep. At a hearing March 20 in San Francisco, White also fined Yep $2,000 and placed him on three years' probation.
Yep pleaded guilty in December to a felony count of violating the Lacey Act, which makes it illegal to sell an endangered species. He admitted that he knew the fish was listed as endangered and that both the importation and sale of the fish were illegal.
The Asian arowana fish, also known as Asian boney tongue fish, is native to Indonesia and Malaysia, federal prosecutors said. Many Chinese people consider it to be a symbol of good luck, and a single fish can cost $3,000, authorities said.
Yep's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Jodi Linker, wrote in a sentencing memorandum, "While Mr. Yep acknowledges the significance and seriousness of his offense and admits that he made a terrible mistake in selling this fish, the evidence establishes that Mr. Yep only engaged in this one sale."
