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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Well, once Arias bit the bullet it appeared to be just a matter of time.
The whole thing is unfortunate, and somewhat sad to me.

Thanks for the info, Reka.

Diana

Ditto!

K Barrett

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
link.net...
Well, once Arias bit the bullet it appeared to be just a matter of time.
The whole thing is unfortunate, and somewhat sad to me.

Thanks for the info, Reka.

Diana

For those who are interested, there is a Message from Kathy Norris (Geroge's
wife) over on the Garden Web website. I didn't feel right posting it here,
since I don't have permission from her. Link to message below.


http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/...214828492.html

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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On Wed, 23 Jun 2004 15:02:38 -0700, Kenni Judd wrote
(in article ):

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]

Might it have been Dickens in Bleak House, "The law is a ass?"


Tom
Walnut Creek, CA
To reply by e-mail, remove APPENDIX

"Kenni Judd" schrieb im Newsbeitrag news
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.

I was not intending to post as an opinion, but solely as an article concerning orchids and information on a topic that had been
discussed here in the past.
--
Reka

This is LIFE! It's not a rehearsal. Don't miss it!
http://www.rolbox.it/hukari/index.html



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Kenni Judd wrote:

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.


Or he may be too old and too tired of fighting to want to go to
trial... Or he is guilty. Or both. I think I got a bunch of Mexican
species from him maybe 10 years ago. I don't think any of them were
illegal (or even on appendix II), and he sent me a copious amount of
paperwork indicating they were legal, not that I understand that kind of
stuff... Many of the old time orchid sellers are guilty of a little
orchid smuggling (or a lot). Perhaps that is because they were used to
being able to easily import what they wanted before CITES, and couldn't
be bothered (or couldn't understand why they should be bothered) to
comply with the new regulations.

I think the newer generation of orchid vendors is a little more wary of
the regulations, having never known anything else and having seen a few
showy examples of enforcement. That is why the feds go after the well
known guys, in case you weren't jaded and cynical enough to have noticed
that on your own. There is always going to be a market for smuggled
plants (unfortunately), it is just like anything else that the
authorities say we can't have - the price goes up in lockstep with the
risk of supply.

We could start a whole thread on CITES (we've done it in the past), but
my personal opinion is that it doesn't work for plants. Great for
animals, which you can't raise from seed or take cuttings of. Silly for
plants. Let's allow the plants to go extinct in their habitat, whilst
simultaneously preventing any introduction of these plants into
cultivation where they would at least continue to exist... Fix CITES
in one fell swoop by 1) make it easy and cheap to propagate desirable
plants, 2) ship them in flask so that we can see they were propagated,
and 3) let the market work from there. Habitat loss is the main
threat to most of these orchids, use the money you make on flasks to buy
a mountain on Java somewhere.

I think the phrase Kenni is looking for is 'There is no worse system of
government than democracy, except for all of the other ones" (to
paraphrase a paraphrase)..

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren

1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit

Rob Halgren ) wrote:
: We could start a whole thread on CITES (we've done it in the past), but
: my personal opinion is that it doesn't work for plants. Great for
: animals, which you can't raise from seed or take cuttings of.

That is not strictly true. One can (and many do) take cuttings of corals
and grow them up so to speak. Many aquaculture operations are sprouting
up (pun intended) that do this commercially. All Scleractinia (aka corals)
are CITES appendix II. I agree with your point though. CITES is about
trade in plants and animals that threatens their existence. Practices that
allow trade while protecting their existence (e.g. by lessening the demand
for wild collected specimens) is to be encouraged and not ignored or
lumped together with all other types of trade.

I make my point about corals to dispel the notion that no types of
animals can be propagated in the fashion you mention.

Dave

Dave Sheehy wrote:

I make my point about corals to dispel the notion that no types of
animals can be propagated in the fashion you mention.



Well, in this case you are actually separating individual organisms
from a colony (if I recall properly, no guarantee of that...), so it
isn't quite the same thing as dividing a plant, but I take your point.
I seem to recall that flatworms can be split in half, if you are looking
for a more exact analogy... And I'm sure there are some plants that
can't easily be propagated (lots of cacti are very slow growers, for
example). I don't have a problem with restricting trade in slow growing
plants (or corals!). I think we both agree that the easily propagated
things should be propagated and distributed to reduce collection
pressure, however, which was my main argument.


That raises the question of whether all orchid species are easily
propagated. The answer is most certainly no! But many of the
horticulturally desirable ones (the ones that get smuggled the most) are
fairly easy to grow from seed with the proper equipment. Additionally,
since a flask is an obviously artificial environment, sending such a
flask is obvious evidence of artificial propagation. Should make plant
inspectors happy.


Rob

--
Rob's Rules: http://www.msu.edu/~halgren
1) There is always room for one more orchid
2) There is always room for two more orchids
2a. See rule 1
3) When one has insufficient credit to purchase
more orchids, obtain more credit

Rob Halgren ) wrote:
: Dave Sheehy wrote:

: I make my point about corals to dispel the notion that no types of
: animals can be propagated in the fashion you mention.
:
: Well, in this case you are actually separating individual organisms
: from a colony (if I recall properly, no guarantee of that...), so it
: isn't quite the same thing as dividing a plant, but I take your point.

You are largely correct. There are a few genera, commonly known as mushroom
corals, that are single polyps (i.e. individuals) that can be propagated
by taking pie shaped cuttings from a single individual.

: I seem to recall that flatworms can be split in half, if you are looking
: for a more exact analogy... And I'm sure there are some plants that
: can't easily be propagated (lots of cacti are very slow growers, for
: example). I don't have a problem with restricting trade in slow growing
: plants (or corals!). I think we both agree that the easily propagated
: things should be propagated and distributed to reduce collection
: pressure, however, which was my main argument.

I think we may have a misunderstanding here. Although cuttings are taken
from fast growing wild corals and sold commercially I'm talking about
cuttings taken from captively grown mother colonies that are sold
commercially. There are several slow growing (compared to other species)
corals that are very popular in the trade. It is to my mind even more
important to find ways to captively propagate these species for trade
purposes. I should think that this would apply to orchids as well. That is,
enable some commercial operation with the expertise to propagate the
more difficult species and offer them for sale.

: That raises the question of whether all orchid species are easily
: propagated. The answer is most certainly no! But many of the
: horticulturally desirable ones (the ones that get smuggled the most) are
: fairly easy to grow from seed with the proper equipment. Additionally,
: since a flask is an obviously artificial environment, sending such a
: flask is obvious evidence of artificial propagation. Should make plant
: inspectors happy.

Similarly, corals are grown onto substrates (e.g. concrete discs) that
make it obvious they have been artificially propagated.

Dave

Thats what I do for a living.


Dustin



That is not strictly true. One can (and many do) take cuttings of corals
and grow them up so to speak. Many aquaculture operations are sprouting
up (pun intended) that do this commercially. All Scleractinia (aka corals)
are CITES appendix II. I agree with your point though. CITES is about
trade in plants and animals that threatens their existence. Practices that
allow trade while protecting their existence (e.g. by lessening the demand
for wild collected specimens) is to be encouraged and not ignored or
lumped together with all other types of trade.

I make my point about corals to dispel the notion that no types of
animals can be propagated in the fashion you mention.

Dave

Hey;

1) make it easy and cheap to propagate desirable
plants, 2) ship them in flask so that we can see they were propagated,

Amen, but remember to use clear agar in the flask. As customs inspectors worry
about drug smuggling in the dark agar. If you remember the bouhaha a few years
back. *GRIN*

Jerry

Camp Lot A Noise Tropicals (C. L. A. N.)
Orchid Species, Hybrids, Supplies, Photos and Books
Chat (941) 352-2483 Fax: (941) 351-2483 X 123 Order Only 1-800-351-CITE

Fortunately, there's no need to go with clear agar. The comments
received in conjunction with running the fault tree to find out precisely
how detrimental the use of activated charcoal in orchid flasks would be
were sufficient to dissuade additional restrictions on darkening agents
_in vitro_.

Now it's about the quantity and type of seed you can import
without special permits. It's always something new.

NO e-mail to the address in the header. Spam trap.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ