EUGENE, Ore. — A Southern California couple has been sentenced to three years of federal probation and fined $20,000 for their roles in an international wildlife trafficking ring linking Oregon and Vietnam.
Linh Luu and Kevin Le, a married couple from Anaheim, California, entered guilty pleas in federal court in Eugene to charges of violating the Lacey Act, a century-old law that prohibits the interstate and international trade of illegally sourced wildlife. In addition to probation, each was ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
Federal prosecutors said that between September 2019 and May 2021, Luu and Le served as financial intermediaries, processing $51,100 in illicit payments to help an operative in Vietnam transport high-value wildlife specimens across borders…