William Starr Schwartz, 54, of Meadview, Ariz., has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for a criminal spree that spanned four years, involving the theft of more than 500 federally-protected cactus plants, international smuggling, and the sale of methamphetamine. On April 29, 2019, U.S. District Judge Steven P. Logan handed down the sentence, which includes three years of supervised release and $22,655 in restitution to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
Schwartz pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, theft of government property, smuggling cacti from the United States, and violating the Lacey Act through false labeling. The crimes unfolded between Oct. 1, 2014, and Aug. 22, 2018, when Schwartz orchestrated the systematic looting of cacti from Lake Mead National Recreation Area—a protected federal site in Arizona. He didn’t act alone: authorities say he directed others to steal the plants on his behalf.
Using online marketplaces, Schwartz sold the stolen desert flora to buyers across the globe, shipping the illicit cacti to more than 20 countries. The operation was dismantled in August 2018 when federal agents executed a search warrant at his Meadview residence. There, they recovered hundreds of the pilfered cacti—many still bearing park soil—alongside methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia tied to his distribution ring.
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service led the investigation, with critical support from the National Park Service and the United States Postal Inspection Service. The probe revealed a brazen smuggling pipeline masked as routine international plant shipments, exploiting lax agricultural inspections and falsified export documents—violations squarely under the Lacey Act, a century-old law targeting illegal wildlife trade.
Prosecution was handled by Paul Stearns, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona, who emphasized the dual threat posed by Schwartz’s actions: environmental destruction and public danger from drug trafficking. The $22,655 restitution order reflects the estimated cost of ecological damage and recovery efforts for the stolen flora, which included slow-growing, protected species vital to desert ecosystems.
Case Number: CR-18-08333-SPL. Release Number: 2019-057_Schwartz. For updates, the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, can be followed on Twitter @USAO_AZ or visited online at justice.gov/usao/az.
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Key Facts
- State: Arizona
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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