Richard Gontarek, Sperm Whale Ivory Trafficking, New Jersey 2023

Middlesex County Man Sentenced to Six Months’ Home Confinement for Sperm Whale Ivory Trafficking

A Middlesex County man has been sentenced to six months’ home confinement for selling carvings made of sperm whale ivory, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced. Richard Gontarek, 55, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to an information charging him with two counts of violating the Lacey Act by selling carvings made of sperm whale ivory to a buyer in Pennsylvania.

The Lacey Act makes it a crime to sell in interstate commerce wildlife possessed in violation of any state law when in the exercise of due care the seller should have known that the wildlife was possessed in violation of the state law. New Jersey state law makes it unlawful for any person to possess with intent to sell ivory or any item that contains or is made from ivory.

Gontarek shipped a package containing a carving made from the tooth of a sperm whale to a buyer in Etter, Pennsylvania, in exchange for payment on Jan. 3, 2018, and again on Dec. 6, 2018. Sperm whales are listed in Appendix I to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Richard Gontarek, 55, of Woodbridge, New Jersey, was sentenced to five years’ probation, including six months’ home confinement, for violating the Lacey Act by selling carvings made of sperm whale ivory. He has agreed to pay a fine of $2,800 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lacey Act Reward Fund.

Gontarek cannot possess, purchase, sell or transport wildlife protected under federal or state law during the probationary period. U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement, under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge Sean Mann, with the investigation leading to today’s sentencing.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kathleen P. O’Leary of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Government Fraud Unit in Newark. Gontarek’s sentence was imposed by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael A. Hammer in Newark federal court by videoconference on [no date given].

Mandatory Facts:

• Defendant/Respondent: Richard Gontarek
• Criminal Charges: Two counts of violating the Lacey Act by selling carvings made of sperm whale ivory
• City and State: Woodbridge, New Jersey
• Exact Date: No exact date given
• Sentence or Outcome: Five years’ probation, including six months’ home confinement, and a fine of $2,800 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lacey Act Reward Fund
• Dollar Amounts: $2,800

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