The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that Justin Doyle Pierce, of Camden County, was sentenced Tuesday in federal court for violating the Lacey Act and commercially exporting the crustaceans. An investigation began in October 2015 when wildlife inspectors at Chicago O’Hare Airport found a package of live and dead crayfish destined for Hong Kong.
Agents tracked the PayPal account used for the crayfish transactions and discovered he was paid more than $19,000 over the course of several years.
The Lacey Act makes it unlawful to export wildlife in a way that violates state law. Missouri law generally prohibits the transport of crayfish obtained from its waterways outside of the state.
