Idaho Aquarium, Wildlife Trafficking, Florida 2013

Florida authorities have cracked down on a wildlife trafficking ring involving an Idaho-based aquarium, officials announced Wednesday.

Idaho Aquarium Inc., a company based in Boise, Idaho, was sentenced in Key West for conspiring to harvest, transport, and sell spotted eagle rays and lemon sharks in violation of state and federal laws.

The charges date back to March 2012, when the company, along with co-defendants Ammon Covino and Christopher Conk, began purchasing and transporting protected wildlife from the Florida Keys to Idaho for exhibit at the aquarium.

The scheme, which continued until November 2012, involved Covino and Conk directing Florida-based suppliers to ignore the law and make shipments without proper permits. The Florida business owner, cooperating with federal authorities, secretly recorded phone conversations and text messages.

Idaho Aquarium Inc. was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez to pay a criminal fine of $10,000 and serve a term of probation of three years. The court also ordered the company to submit a comprehensive Compliance Plan and conduct annual audits of corporate records.

In addition to the fine, Idaho Aquarium Inc. was ordered to make alternative community service payments in the amount of $50,000 to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation, a charitable and non-profit organization that promotes marine life conservation and education.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney and was commended by Wifredo A. Ferrer, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, who also thanked the Idaho Department of Fish & Game for their assistance in the investigation.

Covino, 40, was sentenced to one year and a day in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and was barred from any employment during that period that involves the possession, display, transportation, exhibition, purchase, or sale of wildlife. Conk, who cooperated with investigators, received a reduced sentence of four months in prison, followed by two years of supervised release, and was also ordered to forfeit the vehicle used in the commission of the violation.

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