South Dakota Man Found Guilty For Smuggling A Leopard Hide Into U.S.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A federal jury in Aberdeen,
S.D., has found a South Dakota man guilty for smuggling the hide of a leopard
into the United States in violation of the Convention on International Trade
in Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES), an international treaty that regulates
international shipments of listed species, to which the United States and 172
other countries are members. The leopard allegedly was hunted and killed in
South Africa illegally. Wayne D. Breitag of Aberdeen, S.D., was also found
guilty for violations of the Lacey Act, a federal wildlife statute.

Leopards (Panthera pardus) are listed on Appendix I of CITES. CITES requires
that prior to the transport of any part of an Appendix I species from one
country to another, an export permit from the country of origin (or a
re-export certificate), and an import permit from the country to which the
specimen will be shipped, must be obtained and accompany the shipment. The
CITES authorities in South Africa set a yearly quota on the number of export
permits issued by that country for Appendix I species, such as leopards. These
permits are only issued for leopards which have been killed with a valid
hunting permit.

According to the August grand jury indictment, Breitag traveled to South
Africa in August 2002 to hunt leopards while guided by a South African
outfitter named Jan Groenewald Swart doing business as "Trophy Hunting
Safaris." Breitag shot and killed a leopard at that time.

Swart arranged to have the hides smuggled from South Africa into Zimbabwe,
where he purchased fraudulent CITES export permits for the leopard hide.
Breitag then submitted applications to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) falsely claiming that he hunted and killed the leopard in Zimbabwe. On
Nov. 5, 2004, USFWS inspectors seized a shipment of five leopard hides and
three leopard skulls at the Denver International Airport, which included the
hide of the leopard that Breitag killed illegally in South Africa in 2002.

Smuggling is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and up to a $250,000 fine,
while the Lacey Act violations are punishable by up to 5 years in prison and
up to a $250,000 fine.

On May 21, 2007, Jan Groenewald Swart pleaded guilty to smuggling charges in
the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado for his role in the
illegal hunts. Swart served an eighteen-month prison sentence, has since been
released and deported.

The investigation of this case was lead by Special Agents of the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service. The case is being prosecuted by the Environmental Crimes
Section of the U.S. Department of Justice and the U.S. Attorneys' Offices for
the District of South Dakota and Colorado.

SOURCE U.S. Department of Justice

U.S. Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs, +1-202-514-2007, TDD:
+1-202-514-1888