Man sentenced in LA for smuggling fish into US
12/31/2009
LOS ANGELES—A man who tried to smuggle six endangered fish into Los Angeles has been fined $7,500 and sentenced to six months of house arrest, two years probation and 200 hours of community service.
A federal judge this week in Los Angeles sentenced 35-year-old Ricky
Vu of Garden Grove.
Federal prosecutors say Vu hid six
Asian Arowanas, also known as
dragon fish or
lucky fish, in his luggage on a commercial flight Sept. 28 from
Indonesia. They are illegal in the United States without a permit and worth thousands of dollars on the black market.
Authorities says the fish, which can grow to 3 feet long, were found alive in bags of water when his luggage was searched.
Vu pleaded guilty in October to a misdemeanor charge of illegally importing the endangered fish into the United States.
http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_14100540