NorCal man indicted after allegedly trying to smuggle endangered sheep trophy through SFO
A federal grand jury has indicted two men on suspicion of violating the Endangered Species Act after one of them allegedly tried to smuggle a trophy of an endangered sheep through San Francisco International Airport in 2018.
The indictment charges Jason Keith Bruce, 49, of Galt, and Pir Danish Ali, 43, of Pakistan, with conspiracy to violate the Endangered Species Act, to make false statements and to smuggle goods into the United States, and charges Bruce with smuggling and violating the Endangered Species Act, according to an announcement Monday from U.S. Attorney Phillip Talbert.
Pir was the CEO of a hunting outfitter and guide company based in Pakistan, and Bruce was a recreational big game hunter who hunted as a client of Pir's company, prosecutors said.
Beginning in February 2016, Pir and Bruce conspired to hunt a Ladakh urial -- an endangered wild sheep in Pakistan -- and smuggle the resulting trophy from Pakistan to the United States.
Bruce paid Pir $50,000 for the hunt, during which he shot a Ladakh urial, prosecutors said.
On March 29, 2018, Bruce flew into San Francisco International Airport from Pakistan carrying eight trophies in his personal baggage, including the Ladakh urial trophy. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents stopped him and alerted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Pir and Bruce conspired to lie about the scheme during the ensuing investigation -- prosecutors said -- which revealed that, between 2013 and 2018, at least 25 hunters who had hunted with Pir's company presented forged documents to import at least 97 hunting trophies into the U.S.
If convicted of the conspiracy, Pir and Bruce face a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted of the smuggling charge, Bruce faces a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, and if convicted of the violation of the Endangered Species Act, Bruce faces a prison term of up to one year and a fine of up to $50,000 or both.
