U.S. Department of Justice Marcos Daniel Jiménez United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida
	99 N.E. 4th Street Miami, FL 33132 (305) 961-9001

TEXAS ORCHID GROWER PLEAS GUILTY IN MIAMI TO
SMUGGLING PROTECTED PERUVIAN ORCHIDS

Marcos Daniel Jiménez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, announced that defendant, George Norris, pleaded guilty before United States District Court Judge Patricia A. Seitz, in Miami, Florida, on Friday, June 18, 2004, to a change of conspiracy to smuggle into the United States protected orchid specimens, including specimens of the genus Phragmipedium, commonly known as Tropical lady’s slipper orchids, in violation of Title 16, United States Code, Section1538(c)(1), and Title 18, United States Code, Section 371. All species of orchid are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), a treaty to which the United States and Peru, along with over 160 other nations, are parties. The United States implements CITES through the Endangered Species Act. In addition to pleading guilty to the conspiracy charge, Norris pleaded guilty to six additional criminal charges related to the smuggling of orchid specimens into the United States for sale, five of those in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 545, and one other in violation of, Title 18, United States Code, Section, 1001(a), and admitted to a forfeiture provision in the Indictment which asserts that the orchids or their substitute value is properly forfeitable as part of the action.

Under the federal sentencing guidelines, Norris faces a maximum statutory term of imprisonment of five (5) years and a possible fine of up to the greater of $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from his relevant conduct, for each of the seven counts. Norris is scheduled to be sentenced on September 2, 2004, before Judge Seitz. Norris’ co-defendant, Manuel Arias Silva, previously entered guilty pleas to two counts of the Indictment and is awaiting sentencing on the charges.

According to the Indictment and statements in Court, Arias made several shipments of orchids to his co-conspirator, Norris, between January of 1999 and October of 2003. Arias would obtain a CITES permit for the shipment from Peruvian authorities, with whom he had a long-standing relationship, authorizing the export of certain numbers of artificially-propagated specimens of particular species of orchids. Arias would then include in the shipment specimens of species not included on the CITES permit. Norris and Arias admitted by their pleas that to conceal their illegal activity, they would falsely label the protected species as a species included on the permit. Arias would provide Norris a code or “key” that would provide a means for deciphering the false labels and identifying the true species of the orchids. One shipment in February of 2003 allegedly included some 1,145 specimens, of which approximately 490 were of species not authorized for export by the accompanying CITES permit.

Mr. Jiménez commended the investigative efforts of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Department of Homeland Security, Customs and Border Protection Service, and the Department of Agriculture. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald.

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