I don't know George Norris; can't even recall doing any business with him
via email or Internet.

But my years as a lawyer compel me to point out that a guilty plea is not
always based on actual guilt. To roughly paraphrase an old saying [the
exact wording and name of the author, I've forgotten] -- the US legal system
stinks (going to trial is often a crapshoot); the only good thing to be said
about it is that it's the best one around.

No offense to our non-US participants, feel free to disagree with the latter
part of the paraphrase; some days, I have my own doubts.
--
Kenni Judd
Juno Beach Orchids
http://www.jborchids.com

"Reka" wrote in message
...
Spring man pleads guilty
to smuggling orchids
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

A Spring man has pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle prized tropical
lady slipper orchids into the United States.

George W. Norris also pleaded guilty Friday in a Miami courtroom to six
other charges relating to smuggling orchids into the United
States, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Monday.

The retired salesman faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison for
each of the seven counts. For each count, he could also be
fined twice the amount he gained from his conduct, twice the amount he
caused others to lose, or $250,000 -- whichever is greater.

No attorney information was immediately available for Norris.

Norris, who runs Spring Orchid Specialities out of a greenhouse behind his
house, could not be reached for comment Monday. A woman
who answered the phone at his Spring residence Monday night said he had
gone to bed.

His co-defendant, Manuel Arias Silva, a prominent Peruvian orchid grower,
previously pleaded guilty to two counts and is waiting to
be sentenced.

According to the indictment, Silva sold several shipments of protected
orchids to Norris between January 1999 and October 2003. The
orchids were pulled from the wild and shipped alongside more common,
nursery-raised flowers legally imported.

The lady slipper is one of the Phragmipedium species of orchids. Several
"phrags," as they are known in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected under
international treaties. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported
with government permits.

Arias shipped endangered orchids through Miami to Spring, where Norris
resold them to high-end hobbyists at black-market prices.




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