A federal judge sentenced a married couple from Anaheim to three years’ probation after they pleaded guilty to helping traffic wildlife parts such as black bear gallbladders, lion teeth and rhinoceros horns between Oregon and Vietnam.
Linh Luu and her husband, Kevin Le, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in Eugene, Ore., to violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits the buying or selling of wildlife — including wildlife parts — that are illegally imported or exported. Each also received a $10,000 fine as part of their punishment that will be paid to the Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund.
According to court documents, Luu and Le processed $51,000 in payments between September 2019 and May 2021 to help a friend in Vietnam buy and sell wildlife parts in and out of the U.S.
One exchange detailed by federal prosecutors involved undercover agents meeting the couple at a Target parking lot to deliver $12,000 in cash as a down payment for pieces of rhinoceros horn. They discussed ways to avoid U.S. banking regulations and that the cash was from illegal wildlife trafficking…