Phillip Lloyd, 57, of Clear Brook, Virginia, pleaded guilty yesterday to orchestrating a scheme to falsify labels on international shipments of animal blood — including blood from endangered squirrel monkeys — passing it off as human blood to bypass federal wildlife enforcement.
Lloyd, owner and manager of Biochemed Services, Inc., a blood product broker based in Winchester, admitted to directing employees to label packages containing animal blood as ‘human’ on export documents. The real labels — accurately identifying the contents as animal blood — were sent separately in untraceable FedEx envelopes, avoiding inspection by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and other agencies.
Between January 2014 and May 2016, Biochemed exported animal blood products in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), an international treaty designed to protect species at risk of extinction due to trade. Shipments included blood from primates legally protected under global conservation agreements.
On January 23, 2014, Lloyd confirmed a shipment of squirrel monkey blood to Tropicus Research in Canada, instructing that the labels read ‘Human Blood’ while the correct labels traveled separately. Days later, he coordinated with an individual he believed was a Tropicus employee — but was in fact a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service undercover agent — discussing the fraudulent shipment in detail.
Multiple February 2014 shipments followed the same pattern: FedEx pickups carrying primate blood falsely declared as human on commercial invoices. The deception allowed the illegal transport of biologically sensitive materials across international borders under false pretenses, undermining conservation and biosecurity protocols.
Lloyd now faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison when sentenced on January 27, 2017. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon D. Kromberg and announced by Dana J. Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, after U.S. District Judge Gerald Bruce Lee accepted the guilty plea. Court records are available under Case No. 1:16-cr-226 via PACER and the Eastern District of Virginia’s public docket.
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Key Facts
- State: Virginia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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