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[–]Nemacolin[S] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

There is a law about everything.

Two men pleaded guilty in separate cases this week in federal court in Columbus involving the purchase of a tiger skin and the sale of a mounted leopard in violation of federal endangered species laws.

Ryan J. Gibbs, 44, of Cincinnati, was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $100,000 fine after he attempted to purchase a tiger skin.

The sentence was in line with an earlier agreement with prosecutors that included a guilty plea to a misdemeanor count. U.S. Magistrate Judge Norah McCann King announced the sentence during a hearing Wednesday afternoon in federal court in Columbus, held via video conferencing because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

According to court documents, Gibbs contacted an individual in the United Kingdom in August 2018, seeking to purchase a tiger skin rug. That individual connected Gibbs to a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service posing as a seller.