16 Apr 2014
Aquarium fined over illegal wildlife trafficking
BY Jason Holland
Idaho Aquarium in the US has been sentenced after pleading guilty to conspiring to harvest, transport and sell illegal wildlife.
Under a plea agreement, the non-profit aquarium in Boise, Idaho will pay a $10,000 (€7,226, £5,959) fine and donate $50,000 (€36,129, £29,791) to the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation. It will also serve three years probation and must conduct annual audits.
Two former directors at the aquarium received prison sentences in December 2013, as they also pleaded guilty to the charge, which related to spotted eagle rays and lemon sharks.
Idaho Aquarium, as well as the former directors Ammon Covino and Chris Conk, were indicted by a Florida grand jury in February 2013 before the guilty pleas were made in September. Covino was sentenced to one year in prison followed by two years of supervised release. Conk received a reduced four month sentence and two years of supervised release after co-operating with investigators.
The 10,000sq ft (929sq m) aquarium was founded in 2011, and a 5,000sq ft (465sq m) expansion project is currently underway. It is adding touch tanks and an exhibit based on the Amazon, as well as constructing an educational classroom, a medical and quarantine area, and a reptile vivarium.
The expansion follows extensive restructuring which took place in the wake of the court case, which included the appointment of a new board of directors and gaining legal control of the gift shop, which Covino's brother had been operating as a for-profit business.
The Covino brothers have since opened two for-profit aquariums elsewhere in the US – in Portland, Oregon and Austin, Texas.
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