PITTSBURGH — Anthony Nguyen, aka JoJo Nguyen and Jackie Lee, 49, of Pittsburgh, was sentenced today in the Western District of Pennsylvania to five years’ probation, including 180 days of home detention and 225 hours of community service, for trafficking endangered and invasive fish across state lines — a racket that exploited loopholes in wildlife import laws for profit.
The charges stemmed from Nguyen’s operation of Ichiban Tropical Fish, a Pittsburgh-based business dealing in rare and exotic freshwater species. Under the guise of a niche aquarium shop, Nguyen built a network to sell highly illegal aquatic animals, including the Asian arowana — a fish so coveted it’s known as the “dragon fish” and can fetch tens of thousands of dollars on the black market.
Nguyen pleaded guilty on July 20, 2021, before U.S. District Judge Nora B. Fischer to two counts of violating the Lacey Act, admitting he sold Asian arowana in 2016 that were illegally imported from Southeast Asia. The species, protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and listed in CITES Appendix I, is banned from commercial trade due to its critically threatened status.
But the scheme didn’t stop there. In 2019, Nguyen also sold snakehead fish — aggressive, invasive predators native to Asia — in direct violation of Pennsylvania law. Snakeheads, capable of surviving out of water and decimating native ecosystems, are classified as injurious wildlife. Nguyen admitted to falsifying shipping documents to conceal the illegal import and distribution of these fish.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led the investigation, with critical support from the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Investigators seized evidence of cross-state shipments, forged invoices, and covert buyer networks that revealed the operation’s reach beyond a local pet shop facade.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric G. Olshan and Trial Attorney Patrick M. Duggan of the Environment and Natural Resources Division’s Environmental Crimes Section. While Nguyen avoided prison, the sentence marks a rare federal crackdown on wildlife trafficking — a growing underground trade often tied to larger organized crime networks.
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Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Organized Crime
- Source: Official Source ↗
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