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The owner of a company that sells Hawaiian-themed souvenirs was sentenced to six months in jail this afternoon and fined $40,000 for smuggling walrus ivory and whale teeth into and out of the country and for importing black coral without a permit.
The company, Hawaiian Accessories Inc., was also fined $50,000.
Curtis P. Wilmington, 65, pleaded guilty to the charges on behalf of himself and his company in March.
He admitted that he purchased the ivory and whale teeth from a person in Alaska. That person turned out to be an undercover government agent.
Wilmington said he sent the ivory with pieces of koa wood to the Philippines, where they were carved into fish hooks, had the hooks sent back to Hawaii and sold them as “Made in Hawaii” products. He also admitted to importing black coral from Mexico without a permit.
Should have been longer in jail…….make him an example…..the Dem’s don’t mess around?
Importing ivory and whale teeth! Yes, evil, evil, evil! Although it didn’t use to be a problem.
Apparently more evil than bilking taxpayers out of a few billion dollars to fund a rail system that goes nowhere….
You can be concerned about more than one evil thing in the world or you have a very simple mind.
I see. So, they should let this ivory smuggler go because the rail is a bad thing. Got it.
It’s never a problem and then it’s almost too late or it is too late. Many humans have no respect for the planet and its inhabitants. All for greed or our own selfish wants. We will pay in the end. It is so sad. It’s just sad to see how some people treat our home. The beaches are trashed by people who are disgusting pigs.
As for the “Made in Hawaii” part, that part could still be legit. All he’d have to had done was simply string a chain through those fishhooks and, yes, the resulting necklace would definitely have been made in Hawaii. If he did that while the product was still in the Foreign Trade Zone #9 at the end of Keawe Street, then immediately exported them out to some other country for retail sales, then this would have all been duty-free.
had an old in-law that ran a kiosk at the waikiki international marketplace. he brought in finished shell knickknacks and would cut off a small section of shells which he would immediately start to re-attach to the piece. all the tourists thought he was the artist and bought all of his “authentic” hawaiian souvenirs. wasn’t long before other vendors copied his scam.
People get less time for armed robbery. Hawaii’s criminal justice system is not the best.
Agreed, a day ago in the SA, they did an article about a local violent criminal that was charged with murder in the past and has 39 arrests and multiple convictions and he’s still on the lose awaiting trial! Sometimes I wonder if the HPD does nothing but practice catch and release for only viloent criminals just to look busy.
The businessman might have imported whale teeth and ivory, however prior to having U.S. laws prohibiting its sale, there was free trade.
So, who are we all kidding? The UNESCO World Heritage is the biggest rip off of them all. Under UN and U.S. Policy, the UNESCO is able to turn landmarks into tourist destinations with military protection to conduct these kinds of activities. So let’s put things in perspective.
Lot of people make mistakes and poor judgement. It doesn’t make him evil!
as with wanting more Gun restrictions, we need better Ivory, Black Coral and worker restrictions!
Supporting poachers is a no no. Heavy fines and more jail time is needed.