Feds: Attorney Pleads Guilty To Buying Tiger Skin Rug
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man who bought a tiger skin rug in violation of the federal endangered species act pleaded guilty Wednesday to a misdemeanor charge, the government said.
Ryan Gibbs of Cincinnati must serve a year on probation, perform 80 hours of community service, and donate $100,000 to a federal fund used to provide rewards for tipsters in illegal wildlife trade cases, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Gibbs also agreed to give up a stuffed lion, two stuffed puffins, a panther skin and a sawfish rostrum — the bill or beak of the sawfish — which he owns, according to the government.
Gibbs, 44, a Cincinnati attorney, tried buying a tiger skin from someone in the United Kingdom in 2018, but was told it was illegal, prosecutors said. That person put him in touch with a seller in Minnesota, who turned out to be an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife agent.
Gibbs bought the rug for $3,000 in 2019. The rug had been confiscated from a previous investigation.
Defense attorney Scott Croswell said Gibbs did not dispute the charge.
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