Peruvian grower gets 21 months for smuggling rare orchids

Associated Press


MIAMI - A prominent Peruvian orchid grower was sentenced Tuesday to almost
two years in federal prison for scheming to smuggle prized tropical lady
slipper orchids into the United States.

Manuel Arias Silva will spend one year and nine months in prison for
shipping internationally protected wild orchids intermingled with
nursery-raised flowers to a Texas dealer several times to feed the desires
of high-end hobbyists from 1999 to last year.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz sentenced Arias to the low end of the
federal guidelines on his guilty plea to two counts. He admitted shipping
2,050 orchids, including the endangered Phragmipedium species, worth $45,500
from Peru through Miami to suburban Houston.

"Judge Seitz did the best and the fairest she could under the
circumstances," said defense attorney Peter Raben.

The dealer, George W. Norris of Spring, Texas, also has pleaded guilty and
faces sentencing Sept. 2. The investigation was based on a tip about Norris
offering endangered species for sale on the Internet.

Norris instructed Arias to ship through South Florida because U.S.
Department of Agriculture inspectors at Miami International Airport were
more lax than their counterparts in Houston, according to papers and e-mails
seized in the investigation.

Arias, 70, was one of three Peruvian growers with permission to cultivate
endangered and newly discovered orchids from recently deforested areas. He
apologized in a letter to the judge asking for mercy and noting his
"sincere" conservation efforts.

The Peruvian lady slippers, known as "phrags" in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected by
international treaty. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported with
government permits.

On a positive note, Manuel, as I understand it, is back home and I would
hope it's unlikely that his government will extradite a 70 year old man.

On the negative side of this is the fact that our friend George is up
against this same judge, and the F&WS won't be happy about Manuel...

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
..
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
.net...
Peruvian grower gets 21 months for smuggling rare orchids

Associated Press


MIAMI - A prominent Peruvian orchid grower was sentenced Tuesday to almost
two years in federal prison for scheming to smuggle prized tropical lady
slipper orchids into the United States.

Manuel Arias Silva will spend one year and nine months in prison for
shipping internationally protected wild orchids intermingled with
nursery-raised flowers to a Texas dealer several times to feed the desires
of high-end hobbyists from 1999 to last year.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz sentenced Arias to the low end of the
federal guidelines on his guilty plea to two counts. He admitted shipping
2,050 orchids, including the endangered Phragmipedium species, worth
$45,500
from Peru through Miami to suburban Houston.

"Judge Seitz did the best and the fairest she could under the
circumstances," said defense attorney Peter Raben.

The dealer, George W. Norris of Spring, Texas, also has pleaded guilty and
faces sentencing Sept. 2. The investigation was based on a tip about
Norris
offering endangered species for sale on the Internet.

Norris instructed Arias to ship through South Florida because U.S.
Department of Agriculture inspectors at Miami International Airport were
more lax than their counterparts in Houston, according to papers and
e-mails
seized in the investigation.

Arias, 70, was one of three Peruvian growers with permission to cultivate
endangered and newly discovered orchids from recently deforested areas. He
apologized in a letter to the judge asking for mercy and noting his
"sincere" conservation efforts.

The Peruvian lady slippers, known as "phrags" in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected by
international treaty. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported with
government permits.

On a positive note, Manuel, as I understand it, is back home and I would
hope it's unlikely that his government will extradite a 70 year old man.

On the negative side of this is the fact that our friend George is up
against this same judge, and the F&WS won't be happy about Manuel...

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
..
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
.net...
Peruvian grower gets 21 months for smuggling rare orchids

Associated Press


MIAMI - A prominent Peruvian orchid grower was sentenced Tuesday to almost
two years in federal prison for scheming to smuggle prized tropical lady
slipper orchids into the United States.

Manuel Arias Silva will spend one year and nine months in prison for
shipping internationally protected wild orchids intermingled with
nursery-raised flowers to a Texas dealer several times to feed the desires
of high-end hobbyists from 1999 to last year.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz sentenced Arias to the low end of the
federal guidelines on his guilty plea to two counts. He admitted shipping
2,050 orchids, including the endangered Phragmipedium species, worth
$45,500
from Peru through Miami to suburban Houston.

"Judge Seitz did the best and the fairest she could under the
circumstances," said defense attorney Peter Raben.

The dealer, George W. Norris of Spring, Texas, also has pleaded guilty and
faces sentencing Sept. 2. The investigation was based on a tip about
Norris
offering endangered species for sale on the Internet.

Norris instructed Arias to ship through South Florida because U.S.
Department of Agriculture inspectors at Miami International Airport were
more lax than their counterparts in Houston, according to papers and
e-mails
seized in the investigation.

Arias, 70, was one of three Peruvian growers with permission to cultivate
endangered and newly discovered orchids from recently deforested areas. He
apologized in a letter to the judge asking for mercy and noting his
"sincere" conservation efforts.

The Peruvian lady slippers, known as "phrags" in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected by
international treaty. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported with
government permits.

This is all so sad & I feel bad about George & Manuel.
Bottom line though, is, if you do the crime,
you pay the fine.
Now the judicial system needs tweeking! I remember
reading about Kavorki (sp) & someone else in a feud over the
naming of the orchid in question.
Supposedly they got fined & a slap on the wrist?
Anyone have any more info on this.
Cheers Wendy


On Wed, 28 Jul 2004 21:26:57 GMT, Diana Kulaga wrote:

Peruvian grower gets 21 months for smuggling rare orchids

Associated Press


MIAMI - A prominent Peruvian orchid grower was sentenced Tuesday to almost
two years in federal prison for scheming to smuggle prized tropical lady
slipper orchids into the United States.

Manuel Arias Silva will spend one year and nine months in prison for
shipping internationally protected wild orchids intermingled with
nursery-raised flowers to a Texas dealer several times to feed the desires
of high-end hobbyists from 1999 to last year.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz sentenced Arias to the low end of the
federal guidelines on his guilty plea to two counts. He admitted shipping
2,050 orchids, including the endangered Phragmipedium species, worth $45,500
from Peru through Miami to suburban Houston.

"Judge Seitz did the best and the fairest she could under the
circumstances," said defense attorney Peter Raben.

The dealer, George W. Norris of Spring, Texas, also has pleaded guilty and
faces sentencing Sept. 2. The investigation was based on a tip about Norris
offering endangered species for sale on the Internet.

Norris instructed Arias to ship through South Florida because U.S.
Department of Agriculture inspectors at Miami International Airport were
more lax than their counterparts in Houston, according to papers and e-mails
seized in the investigation.

Arias, 70, was one of three Peruvian growers with permission to cultivate
endangered and newly discovered orchids from recently deforested areas. He
apologized in a letter to the judge asking for mercy and noting his
"sincere" conservation efforts.

The Peruvian lady slippers, known as "phrags" in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected by
international treaty. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported with
government permits.

I understod that the Peruvian government gave Arias a new passport the day
after his arrest, when he was out on bail after George posted bail for him..
George put his house up securing bail for Arias. Arias fled the US
jurisdiction. Now Arias is in Peru and if he doesn't come back George is out
of his house.

With friends like these you don't need enemies.

K Barrett
"Ray" wrote in message
...
On a positive note, Manuel, as I understand it, is back home and I would
hope it's unlikely that his government will extradite a 70 year old man.

On the negative side of this is the fact that our friend George is up
against this same judge, and the F&WS won't be happy about Manuel...

--

Ray Barkalow - First Rays Orchids - www.firstrays.com
Plants, Supplies, Books, Artwork, and Lots of Free Info!
.
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
.net...
Peruvian grower gets 21 months for smuggling rare orchids

Associated Press


MIAMI - A prominent Peruvian orchid grower was sentenced Tuesday to
almost
two years in federal prison for scheming to smuggle prized tropical lady
slipper orchids into the United States.

Manuel Arias Silva will spend one year and nine months in prison for
shipping internationally protected wild orchids intermingled with
nursery-raised flowers to a Texas dealer several times to feed the
desires
of high-end hobbyists from 1999 to last year.

U.S. District Judge Patricia Seitz sentenced Arias to the low end of the
federal guidelines on his guilty plea to two counts. He admitted
shipping
2,050 orchids, including the endangered Phragmipedium species, worth
$45,500
from Peru through Miami to suburban Houston.

"Judge Seitz did the best and the fairest she could under the
circumstances," said defense attorney Peter Raben.

The dealer, George W. Norris of Spring, Texas, also has pleaded guilty
and
faces sentencing Sept. 2. The investigation was based on a tip about
Norris
offering endangered species for sale on the Internet.

Norris instructed Arias to ship through South Florida because U.S.
Department of Agriculture inspectors at Miami International Airport were
more lax than their counterparts in Houston, according to papers and
e-mails
seized in the investigation.

Arias, 70, was one of three Peruvian growers with permission to
cultivate
endangered and newly discovered orchids from recently deforested areas.
He
apologized in a letter to the judge asking for mercy and noting his
"sincere" conservation efforts.

The Peruvian lady slippers, known as "phrags" in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected by
international treaty. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported with
government permits.

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 03:27:35 GMT, "K Barrett"
wrote:

I understod that the Peruvian government gave Arias a new passport the day
after his arrest, when he was out on bail after George posted bail for him..
George put his house up securing bail for Arias. Arias fled the US
jurisdiction. Now Arias is in Peru and if he doesn't come back George is out
of his house.

With friends like these you don't need enemies.

K Barrett

On OGD they said that as soon as Arias returned home, his family
paid his bail so George should still be housed. Of course he may
not need it for a while.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

On Thu, 29 Jul 2004 03:27:35 GMT, "K Barrett"
wrote:

I understod that the Peruvian government gave Arias a new passport the day
after his arrest, when he was out on bail after George posted bail for him..
George put his house up securing bail for Arias. Arias fled the US
jurisdiction. Now Arias is in Peru and if he doesn't come back George is out
of his house.

With friends like these you don't need enemies.

K Barrett

On OGD they said that as soon as Arias returned home, his family
paid his bail so George should still be housed. Of course he may
not need it for a while.
SuE
http://orchids.legolas.org/gallery/albums.php

wrote in message
om...
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
k.net...
Peruvian grower gets 21 months for smuggling rare orchids

Associated Press

The dealer, George W. Norris of Spring, Texas, also has pleaded guilty
and
faces sentencing Sept. 2. The investigation was based on a tip about
Norris
offering endangered species for sale on the Internet.

Arias, 70, was one of three Peruvian growers with permission to
cultivate
endangered and newly discovered orchids from recently deforested areas.
He
apologized in a letter to the judge asking for mercy and noting his
"sincere" conservation efforts.

The Peruvian lady slippers, known as "phrags" in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected by
international treaty. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported with
government permits.

Murray, originally from Surrinam, was an officer in the orchid society
I belonged to in Alabama. He was so bitter about the loss of habitat,
thus the loss of orchids in that area. When the forest is cleared and
developed the orchids are gone also. He found no problem with
harvesting the rare and protected orchids when faced with eminent
destruction of habitat.

One concern he had about re-introduction of the plants into other
areas was the displaced plants acceptance and adaptation to the new
habitat (would the transplanted orchids even survive) and the impact
any new arrivals would have in spontaneous hybridation with the
original orchids in the new area if they did survive and bloom. In
this situation the original orchids would be lost and subsequent
orchids effected by the relocation.

Don't get me wrong, he and I are against harvesting or even picking
the flowers in devoted and protected areas. These would be equivalent
to our wildlife refuges, state, and national parks to name a few.

The damage original collectors did while harvesting, collection or
destruction of entire colonies of species for the purpose of price
manipulation to limit availability is a good part of what caused the
necessary protections. Now with the loss of habitat the protections
should be redefined and expanded in a way that will protect the
orchids in/from an area where the habitat has become unviable for
their survival. That may make supporting documentation more
complicated, name of plant, harvested under permit from specified
area, name of permit holder, and date to name a few, if that
information is not currently required.

Was the "crime" motivated by a sincere desire to get the endangered
species into areas where they could possibly be propagated and
protected or greed?

BTW, this is personal opinion, I won't go on a "field trip" to collect
or buy any collected plants. I am a hobbiest would probably kill them
anyway, be unable to contribute to the survival or propagation of any
of the orchids in question. Naive as I am, I have seen the impact
urbanization, herbicides, insecticides, and deforestation have on
local areas.

The crime was motivated by greed.

K Barrett

wrote in message
om...
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
k.net...
Peruvian grower gets 21 months for smuggling rare orchids

Associated Press

The dealer, George W. Norris of Spring, Texas, also has pleaded guilty
and
faces sentencing Sept. 2. The investigation was based on a tip about
Norris
offering endangered species for sale on the Internet.

Arias, 70, was one of three Peruvian growers with permission to
cultivate
endangered and newly discovered orchids from recently deforested areas.
He
apologized in a letter to the judge asking for mercy and noting his
"sincere" conservation efforts.

The Peruvian lady slippers, known as "phrags" in collecting circles, are
considered seriously endangered in the wild and are protected by
international treaty. Nursery-raised varieties can be exported with
government permits.

Murray, originally from Surrinam, was an officer in the orchid society
I belonged to in Alabama. He was so bitter about the loss of habitat,
thus the loss of orchids in that area. When the forest is cleared and
developed the orchids are gone also. He found no problem with
harvesting the rare and protected orchids when faced with eminent
destruction of habitat.

One concern he had about re-introduction of the plants into other
areas was the displaced plants acceptance and adaptation to the new
habitat (would the transplanted orchids even survive) and the impact
any new arrivals would have in spontaneous hybridation with the
original orchids in the new area if they did survive and bloom. In
this situation the original orchids would be lost and subsequent
orchids effected by the relocation.

Don't get me wrong, he and I are against harvesting or even picking
the flowers in devoted and protected areas. These would be equivalent
to our wildlife refuges, state, and national parks to name a few.

The damage original collectors did while harvesting, collection or
destruction of entire colonies of species for the purpose of price
manipulation to limit availability is a good part of what caused the
necessary protections. Now with the loss of habitat the protections
should be redefined and expanded in a way that will protect the
orchids in/from an area where the habitat has become unviable for
their survival. That may make supporting documentation more
complicated, name of plant, harvested under permit from specified
area, name of permit holder, and date to name a few, if that
information is not currently required.

Was the "crime" motivated by a sincere desire to get the endangered
species into areas where they could possibly be propagated and
protected or greed?

BTW, this is personal opinion, I won't go on a "field trip" to collect
or buy any collected plants. I am a hobbiest would probably kill them
anyway, be unable to contribute to the survival or propagation of any
of the orchids in question. Naive as I am, I have seen the impact
urbanization, herbicides, insecticides, and deforestation have on
local areas.

The crime was motivated by greed.

K Barrett

Subject: Arias Sentenced
From: "Ray"
Date: 7/28/2004 6:18 PM Central Daylight Time
Message-id:

On a positive note, Manuel, as I understand it, is back home and I would
hope it's unlikely that his government will extradite a 70 year old man.


Your support of orchid smuggling is going to be mentioned on other forums,
where conservation is more of an issue. I hope you don't mind.

-

theoneflasehaddock

"K Barrett" wrote in message
news:P39Oc.179302$%_6.32062@attbi_s01...

The crime was motivated by greed.

K Barrett

Yup.

Diana

"K Barrett" wrote in message
news:P39Oc.179302$%_6.32062@attbi_s01...

The crime was motivated by greed.

K Barrett

Yup.

Diana

Your support of orchid smuggling is going to be mentioned on other forums,
where conservation is more of an issue. I hope you don't mind.

theoneflasehaddock

Fish,

It would be prudent to note that Ray's comments were based more on
compassion for a 70 year old man than support of his admitted crime, of
which none of us approve.

Diana

On 29 Jul 2004 19:01:58 GMT, uckoff
(theoneflasehaddock) wrote:

Your support of orchid smuggling is going to be mentioned on other forums,
where conservation is more of an issue. I hope you don't mind.

Implied or explicit threats are inappropriate on this group. Ray
expressed an opinion, nothing more. For you to take his comment to
other forums where he is not a participant in an attempt to "punish"
him is childish, but I guess we could expect that based on your email
address above.

deg

On 29 Jul 2004 19:01:58 GMT, uckoff
(theoneflasehaddock) wrote:

Your support of orchid smuggling is going to be mentioned on other forums,
where conservation is more of an issue. I hope you don't mind.

Implied or explicit threats are inappropriate on this group. Ray
expressed an opinion, nothing more. For you to take his comment to
other forums where he is not a participant in an attempt to "punish"
him is childish, but I guess we could expect that based on your email
address above.

deg