NEW YORK – A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty after selling exotic animal parts, including a mounted mountain lion head, to an undercover officer, according to the district attorney’s office.
An investigation found that Usher Weiss accidentally encountered the undercover officer on November 2, 2023, around 8:15 pm at a building on 49th Street in Borough Park. In the building’s basement, undercover New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) officer Weiss, 26, offered $900 in exchange for the head of a mountain lion, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
Immediately afterward, Weiss offered a cheetah-head top for $10,000, the prosecutor said.
About a month later, on December 5, the same undercover officer met with Weiss at another Borough Park building, this time on 53rd Street. feline, pinniped pup skin and bird saddle, according to the study.
Weiss was also in possession of other illegal items at the time, including taxidermied alligator, tiger skin, cheetah skin and an elephant foot, the district attorney’s office said. He said he bought everything on sites like Craigslist and OfferUp, and delivered everything to the DEC in April.
Weiss pleaded guilty Thursday to violating environmental conservation laws. He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and surrender all other illegal possessions.
“We are committed to stopping the illegal wildlife trade in our communities, and by prosecuting cases like this, we are not only enforcing the law, we are send a strong message that protecting endangered species is a priority,” Gonzalez said.
2024-05-03 05:27:46
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