U.S. judge convicted of conspiring to trade millions of dollars worth of horns and ivory from endangered rhinos and elephants , sentenced a Liberian man to 63 months in prison, federal prosecutors said Thursday. and has been in custody ever since. According to Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, in March of this year, he filed his one count of attempted wildlife trafficking and his two counts of wildlife trafficking. pleaded guilty to two counts.
The human trafficking program involved the illegal poaching of over 35 rhinos and his over 100 elephants.
Williams commended his five-year sentence handed down by United States District Court Judge Gregory H. Woods.
"Today's ruling ensures that those responsible for the global decline in populations of endangered animals protected by international conventions face serious consequences. showing," he said.
Cromer, 49, and his accomplices have buyers in the United States and Southeast Asia, and from 2012 to 2019 he purchased at least 190 kilograms of rhino horn and at least 10 of his horns from East African countries. was trafficking tons of ivory.
The estimated average retail prices of rhino horn and elephant ivory were at least about $3.4 million and he $4 million, respectively.
During the investigation, law enforcement intercepted multiple packages of rhino horn addressed to buyers in Manhattan.
They hid animal parts in works of art, including African masks and statues, New York investigators say.
Poaching appears to be fueling the insatiable demand for rhino horn in Asia. There people pay a lot of money for substances that are coveted as traditional medicines. This substance is primarily composed of keratin, the same substance found in human fingernails.
Cromer is one of his five men accused of being part of a criminal gang. is.
Kenyan Mansur Mohammed, who was extradited to the United States last year, pleaded guilty to human trafficking and drug dealing charges, according to his June statement in the Williams office.
Guinean Amara Sheriff, also in US custody, pleaded guilty to the charges against him in April this year.
Co-defendants Badr Abdul Aziz he Saleh and Abdi Hussein Ahmed were reportedly arrested.
