Plea
in Tiger Traffick Scheme
Three Plead Guilty in Trafficking Scheme
The Associated Press
C
A P E G I R A R D E A U, Mo., Feb. 26 —
A southeast Missouri couple and an Arkansas man have pleaded guilty to taking
part in a black market scheme that involved the deaths of four tigers.
The guilty pleas Monday followed an investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service into the illegal trading of the exotic animals. Because the investigation
was ongoing, authorities said they closed the plea agreements to the public.
Todd Lantz, 39, pleaded guilty to
conspiracy to sell an endangered species illegally,
and Vicki Lantz, 40, pleaded guilty to assisting
in the sale. Freddy Wilmoth of Gentry, Ark., pleaded
guilty to illegally transporting the big cats for
the sale to the Cape Girardeau couple.
All three were free on bond. Sentencing
was set for May 20 by U.S. District Judge E. Richard
Webber.
Long, Ongoing
Investigation
Last November, federal authorities announced
indictments against the three suspects in the tigers'
deaths. The investigation is more than four years
old and has snared people from Florida, Michigan
and Oklahoma.
The indictment said that in February
1998, Todd Lantz, owner of Lazy L Exotics, bought
four tigers from Wilmoth, operator of Wild Wilderness
Safari in Arkansas. Lantz took the tigers to 5-H
Ranch in Cape Girardeau, where the animals were killed
inside a trailer, authorities said. Neither 5-H Ranch
nor anyone associated with the business was charged.
Charges were still pending against
Stoney Elam, who allegedly sold two tigers and three
leopards in violation of federal wildlife laws. Elam,
55, of Fort Gibson, Okla., operates Power House Wildlife
Sanctuary. Another indictment accuses Timothy Rivers,
owner of Animals in Motion in Citra, Fla., of illegally
selling two leopards in 1998.
Valuable
Tiger Parts
Hides, meat, skulls and teeth of tigers, leopards
and other big cats can fetch $5,000 to $20,000 from
collectors, wildlife officials say. Tiger bones,
worth up to $250 a pound, primarily go to people
who practice traditional Chinese medicine, both overseas
and in major U.S. cities with large Asian populations.
Possessing big cats violates no
federal law, but killing the animals is prohibited.
Charges filed in St. Louis are the
second phase of indictments, the Fish and Wildlife
Service said.
In January 2001, Woody Thompson
of Three Rivers, Mich., pleaded guilty in U.S. District
Court in Detroit of brokering the sale of three tiger
skins. The owner of Willow Lake Sportsmen's Club
got a sentence of six months of home detention and
a $2,000 fine. A judge also ordered him to pay $28,000
to a Fish and Wildlife Service education fund
