A Monmouth County man was sentenced today to three years of probation, with six months of home confinement, for falsely labeling as “Toys”, a package containing ten live rhinoceros iguanas that was destined for Hong Kong, U.S Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
According to U.S. Attorney Sellinger, Jason Ksepka, 44, of Farmingdale, previously pleaded guilty to an information, charging him with violating the Lacey Act by falsely labeling an international shipment of wildlife.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On November 7, 2017, Ksepka shipped a package via U.S. Priority Mail Express from the U.S. Post Office in Lambertville.
The package contained ten live rhinoceros iguanas and was destined for Hong Kong.
Ksepka falsely described the contents of the package as “Toys” and the sender as “Luke Jacobs” on a U.S. Postal Service International Shipping Label and Customs Form that accompanied the package.
On November 8, 2017, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Inspectors intercepted the package at the mail facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport and recovered the rhinoceros iguanas from inside the package.
Ksepka was paid $500 by an individual to falsely label the package and ship it to Hong Kong. One year prior to the shipment, the same individual had paid Ksepka $500 to ship ten additional rhinoceros iguanas to Hong Kong.
In addition to probation, Ksepka was ordered to refrain from engaging in the “take” of wildlife (defined by law as harassing, harming, pursuing, hunting, shooting, wounding, trapping, capturing, or collecting wildlife or attempting to engage in such conduct).
He is also ordered to refrain from importing, exporting, transporting, selling, purchasing, or the barter of any wildlife. Ksepka agreed, as part of his plea agreement, to pay a fine of $1,000 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lacey Act Reward Fund.