United States v. Arnold Hansen-Sturm Hansen Caviar Co., Inc.
Opinion
Opinion
Noonan, J.
Arnold Hansen-Sturm (Hansen-Sturm) and Hansen Caviar Co., Inc. (the Company) appeal their conviction of four violations of the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. §§ 3372 , 3373(d)(2) and of conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371 . The appeal requires the application of the statute to the caviar industry and clarification of the rule on lesser included offenses. We affirm the judgment of the district court.
FACTS
At trial the evidence on behalf of the government established the following:
Beginning in October 1985 and continuing through December 1990 Hansen-Sturm on behalf of the Company arranged to buy 67 shipments of caviar, totaling 3,200 pounds from Stephen Darnell. Darnell was unlicensed as a commercial fisherman by the states of Washington and Oregon, nor was he licensed to sell fish or fish products in these states. The caviar he shipped was made from the roe of Columbia River sturgeon. The Company paid him always in cash and fictitiously recorded the caviar as imported. In a variety of other ways Hansen-Sturm on behalf of the Company did his best to disguise the origin of the caviar and conceal its illegal source.