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Date: 02-24-2022
Case Style:
Case Number: 7:21-cr-00005-HL-TQL
Judge:
Court: United States District Court for the Middle District of Georgia (Lowndes County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Valdosta, Georgia criminal defense attorney represented defendant charged with violating the Lacey Act.
Ashtyn Michael Rance, age 35, was indicted for pleaded guilty on Feb. 22, 2018, he shipped three eastern box turtles and 16 spotted turtles from Valdosta to a customer in Florida, in a package falsely labeled as containing tropical fish and common lizards. He was paid $3,300 for the turtles and knew they were being subsequently trafficked to China.
Rance further admitted that on May 10, 2018, he shipped 15 Gaboon vipers from Valdosta to Florida. The snakes were worth approximately $900 and also headed to a buyer in China. He falsely labeled the package as containing harmless reptiles and ball pythons. Rance had legally imported 100 Gaboon vipers and other venomous snakes from Africa to Atlanta. He received a special permit to transport the snakes out of Georgia, but he later returned to Valdosta with 16 vipers.
Rance possessed and sold the reptiles in violation of Georgia laws. The federal Lacey Act is the nation’s oldest wildlife trafficking statute and prohibits, among other things, transporting wildlife in interstate commerce if the wildlife is illegal under state laws. It is also a Lacey Act violation to falsely label a package containing wildlife.
The spotted turtle (Clemmys guttata) is a semi-aquatic turtle native to the eastern United States and Great Lakes region. The eastern box turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina) is endemic to forested regions of the East Coast and Midwest. Collectors prize both species in the domestic and foreign pet trade market, where they are resold for thousands of dollars. The Gaboon viper (Bitis gabonica) is native to central Sub-Saharan Africa. Its venom can cause shock, loss of consciousness or death in humans. Authorities intercepted the package containing the vipers to minimize the risk of a bite or escape.
Additionally, Rance acknowledged that he possessed a Bushmaster Carbine .223 caliber rifle and Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun in his Valdosta residence that he was prohibited from owning as a convicted felon.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement in Vero Beach, Florida, ATF and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources conducted the investigation as part of Southern Surge Task Force’s Operation Middleman. The operation focused on the trafficking of reptiles from the United States to China. The government is represented by Trial Attorney Ryan Connors of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sonja Profit for the Middle District of Georgia.
16:3372(a)(2) and 3373(d)(1) Lacey Act Trafficking
(2)
18:922(g)(1), 924(a)(2) and 18:2 Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon
(5)
It is unlawful for any person—
(1) to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law, treaty, or regulation of the United States or in violation of any Indian tribal law;
(2) to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce—
(A) any fish or wildlife taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any State or in violation of any foreign law;
(B) any plant—
(i) taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any State, or any foreign law, that protects plants or that regulates—
(I) the theft of plants;
(II) the taking of plants from a park, forest reserve, or other officially protected area;
(III) the taking of plants from an officially designated area; or
(IV) the taking of plants without, or contrary to, required authorization;
(ii) taken, possessed, transported, or sold without the payment of appropriate royalties, taxes, or stumpage fees required for the plant by any law or regulation of any State or any foreign law; or
(iii) taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any limitation under any law or regulation of any State, or under any foreign law, governing the export or transshipment of plants; or
(C) any prohibited wildlife species (subject to subsection (e) of this section);
(3) within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the United States (as defined in section 7 of title 18)—
(A) to possess any fish or wildlife taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any State or in violation of any foreign law or Indian tribal law, or
(B) to possess any plant—
(i) taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law or regulation of any State, or any foreign law, that protects plants or that regulates—
(I) the theft of plants;
(II) the taking of plants from a park, forest reserve, or other officially protected area;
(III) the taking of plants from an officially designated area; or
(IV) the taking of plants without, or contrary to, required authorization;
(ii) taken, possessed, transported, or sold without the payment of appropriate royalties, taxes, or stumpage fees required for the plant by any law or regulation of any State or any foreign law; or
(iii) taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any limitation under any law or regulation of any State, or under any foreign law, governing the export or transshipment of plants; or
(4) to attempt to commit any act described in paragraphs (1) through (3).
(b) Marking offenses
It is unlawful for any person to import, export, or transport in interstate commerce any container or package containing any fish or wildlife unless the container or package has previously been plainly marked, labeled, or tagged in accordance with the regulations issued pursuant to paragraph (2) of section 3376(a) of this title.
(c) Sale and purchase of guiding and outfitting services and invalid licenses and permits
(1) Sale
It is deemed to be a sale of fish or wildlife in violation of this chapter for a person for money or other consideration to offer or provide—
(A) guiding, outfitting, or other services; or
(B) a hunting or fishing license or permit;
for the illegal taking, acquiring, receiving, transporting, or possessing of fish or wildlife.
(2) Purchase
It is deemed to be a purchase of fish or wildlife in violation of this chapter for a person to obtain for money or other consideration—
(A) guiding, outfitting, or other services; or
(B) a hunting or fishing license or permit;
for the illegal taking, acquiring, receiving, transporting, or possessing of fish or wildlife.
(d) False labeling offenses
It is unlawful for any person to make or submit any false record, account, or label for, or any false identification of, any fish, wildlife, or plant which has been, or is intended to be—
(1) imported, exported, transported, sold, purchased, or received from any foreign country; or
(2) transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
(e) Nonapplicability of prohibited wildlife species offense
(1) In general
Subsection (a)(2)(C) of this section does not apply to importation, exportation, transportation, sale, receipt, acquisition, or purchase of an animal of a prohibited wildlife species, by a person that, under regulations prescribed under paragraph (3), is described in paragraph (2) with respect to that species.
(2) Persons described
A person is described in this paragraph, if the person—
(A) is licensed or registered, and inspected, by the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service or any other Federal agency with respect to that species;
(B) is a State college, university, or agency, State-licensed wildlife rehabilitator, or State-licensed veterinarian;
(C) is an accredited wildlife sanctuary that cares for prohibited wildlife species and—
(i) is a corporation that is exempt from taxation under section 501(a) of title 26 and described in sections 501(c)(3) and 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) of such title;
(ii) does not commercially trade in animals listed in section 3371(g) of this title, including offspring, parts, and byproducts of such animals;
(iii) does not propagate animals listed in section 3371(g) of this title; and
(iv) does not allow direct contact between the public and animals; or
(D) has custody of the animal solely for the purpose of expeditiously transporting the animal to a person described in this paragraph with respect to the species.
(3) Regulations
Not later than 180 days after December 19, 2003, the Secretary, in cooperation with the Director of the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, shall promulgate regulations describing the persons described in paragraph (2).
(4) State authority
Nothing in this subsection preempts or supersedes the authority of a State to regulate wildlife species within that State.
(5) Authorization of appropriations
There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out subsection (a)(2)(C) of this section $3,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2004 through 2008.
(f) Plant declarations
(1) Import declaration
Effective 180 days from the date of enactment of this subsection, and except as provided in paragraph (3), it shall be unlawful for any person to import any plant unless the person files upon importation a declaration that contains—
(A) the scientific name of any plant (including the genus and species of the plant) contained in the importation;
(B) a description of—
(i) the value of the importation; and
(ii) the quantity, including the unit of measure, of the plant; and
(C) the name of the country from which the plant was taken.
(2) Declaration relating to plant products
Until the date on which the Secretary promulgates a regulation under paragraph (6), a declaration relating to a plant product shall—
(A) in the case in which the species of plant used to produce the plant product that is the subject of the importation varies, and the species used to produce the plant product is unknown, contain the name of each species of plant that may have been used to produce the plant product;
(B) in the case in which the species of plant used to produce the plant product that is the subject of the importation is commonly taken from more than one country, and the country from which the plant was taken and used to produce the plant product is unknown, contain the name of each country from which the plant may have been taken; and
(C) in the case in which a paper or paperboard plant product includes recycled plant product, contain the average percent recycled content without regard for the species or country of origin of the recycled plant product, in addition to the information for the non-recycled plant content otherwise required by this subsection.
(3) Exclusions
Paragraphs (1) and (2) shall not apply to plants used exclusively as packaging material to support, protect, or carry another item, unless the packaging material itself is the item being imported.
(4) Review
Not later than two years after the date of enactment of this subsection, the Secretary shall review the implementation of each requirement imposed by paragraphs (1) and (2) and the effect of the exclusion provided by paragraph (3). In conducting the review, the Secretary shall provide public notice and an opportunity for comment.
(5) Report
Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Secretary completes the review under paragraph (4), the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate committees of Congress a report containing—
(A) an evaluation of—
(i) the effectiveness of each type of information required under paragraphs (1) and (2) in assisting enforcement of this section; and
(ii) the potential to harmonize each requirement imposed by paragraphs (1) and (2) with other applicable import regulations in existence as of the date of the report;
(B) recommendations for such legislation as the Secretary determines to be appropriate to assist in the identification of plants that are imported into the United States in violation of this section; and
(C) an analysis of the effect of subsection (a) and this subsection on—
(i) the cost of legal plant imports; and
(ii) the extent and methodology of illegal logging practices and trafficking.
(6) Promulgation of regulations
Not later than 180 days after the date on which the Secretary completes the review under paragraph (4), the Secretary may promulgate regulations—
(A) to limit the applicability of any requirement imposed by paragraph (2) to specific plant products;
(B) to make any other necessary modification to any requirement imposed by paragraph (2), as determined by the Secretary based on the review; and
(C) to limit the scope of the exclusion provided by paragraph (3), if the limitations in scope are warranted as a result of the review.
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 33 months in prison on each count to run concurrently, was fined $4,300 and will be supervised to three years when released. He will also be prohibited from possessing or selling wildlife during the supervisory period.
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: