Man sentenced for smuggling owl eggs

gillian

A Redwood City man has been sentenced to a year and nine months in federal prison for smuggling the live eggs of Eurasian eagle owls into the United States and painting them like Easter eggs to slip them past U.S. Customs inspectors.

Jeffrey Diaz, 46, pleaded guilty in November to four charges of smuggling and making false statements to federal agents.

The birds are native to Asia, Europe and the Middle East and are among the largest owls in the world, with wingspans of 5 to 6 feet. Importing the owls or their eggs without a license violates an international treaty.
Prosecutors said Diaz, who ran an environmental bird control business called Ronin Air Falconry Service, brought in about 12 painted owl eggs from Austria during two trips in March and April 2005, carrying them in baskets with plastic grass and hand warmers. Three of the eggs later hatched, and the owls are being cared for in wildlife centers, said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Diaz was sentenced to prison in San Francisco on Monday by U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel, who also fined him $5,000.

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