sentencing
sorry if this is a dupe...
Va. Orchid Collector Sentenced for Bringing Rare Plant Into U.S. Updated: Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2004 - 8:05 AM TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - A Fauquier County man was sentenced to two years of probation and fined $1,000 for bringing a rare orchid from Peru to a Florida botanical garden. James Michael Kovach, of Goldvein, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two misdemeanor counts of violating the Endangered Species Act. He apologized Monday and told a federal judge that didn't intend to violate any laws. Kovach, 49, bought the large peach-and-purple ladyslipper orchid at a roadside flower stand in a Peruvian mountain village. He brought it to Sarasota's Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, and experts named it after him: Phragmipedium kovachii. The find was called the most significant in the orchid world in the last 100 years. Kovach originally faced a felony smuggling charge, but agreed to plead guilty to two counts of importing and possessing the orchid without a proper permit. Each count carried a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $100,000 fine. U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday said he didn't believe Kovach intentionally broke the laws. The garden pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of accepting and handling the flower and agreed in January to pay a $5,000 fine and submit to three years' probation. Selby horticulturist Wesley Higgins, head of the orchid identification center, entered a plea agreement specifying house arrest for six months, probation for a year and a $2,000 fine. (Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) --j_a |
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