Sentencing of Three Found Guilty of Illegally Importing Birds

Abstract

Three people and a corporation have been sentenced for conspiring to illegally bring exotic birds into this country, accor - ding to Pierre A. Chaloux, deputy administrator of the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

Richard W. Lablue, Los Angeles, Calif., was sentenced to one and one-half years in prison, six years suspended jail sentence and five years probation. The Global Zoological Imports, Inc., owned by Leblue was fined $10,000.

William H. Carr, Los Angeles, Calif., was sentenced to 20 days in jail, a two year suspended jail sentence, two years probation, and 1,500 hours of community service.

Robert D. Ashway, Alhambra, Calif., had been sentenced to three years in prison, all but two months suspended, five years of probation, and 1,500 hours of community service.

 

The sentencings are among the first since President Carter directed intensified enforcement of federal laws against wildlife smuggling and endangered species violations.

Two in Birds Case Convicted LA times - 30 Jan 1980

An Inglewood dealer in exotic birds has been convicted of conspiracy and making false statements to U.S. Customs officials in an illegal scheme to import more than 200 birds - some of them on the endangered species list - from Southeast Asia.

Richard W. LaBlue, 38, president of Global Zoological Imports Inc. and an associate, William H. Carr Jr., 33, of Los Angeles were convicted on charges relating to the scheme by a Los Angeles federal court jury late Monday.

LaBlue was convicted on nine counts of

 

conspiracy, making false statements, obstruction of justice, removing goods from customs custody and related charges. Carr was convicted on a single count of aiding and abetting LaBlue and others in making false statements to customs officials.

Sentencing was set for Feb. 11

LA Times - 13 Feb. 1980

Two Los Angeles men were sentenced in Los Angeles federal court on charges arising from the importation of birds from Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia through the use of fraudulent U.S. Customs documents and misrepresentations. Richard W. LaBlue, 38, who owned and operated Global Zoological Imports Inc. in Inglewood, was sentenced by U.S. Dist. Judge Manuel L. Real to 18 months in jail, with a six year prison term suspended, for customs violations. William H. Carr Jr. 33, owner of B.D. Feathers and Co., in West Los Angeles, was sentenced to 20 days in jail, with a two-year prison term suspended, for aiding and abetting LaBlue in the use of false statements to import birds. LaBlue also was convicted of conspiracy and obstruction of justice - and his import firm was fined $10,000.

 

PDF