30 January 2014

Another idiot for the day


Rande Iaboni has a CNN article about a predatory fish and an idiot:
New York City resident Joel Rakower bit off more than he could chew when he smuggled nearly forty thousand piranhas into the United States.
Rakower pled guilty in Federal court in Brooklyn to smuggling the deadly piranhas from 2011 to 2012, according to a Department of Justice statement. The Federal Lacey Act combats trafficking in "illegal" wildlife, fish, and plants.
In a plea agreement, Rakower admitted that his company purchased piranhas from a Hong Kong tropical fish supplier and imported them to the city, according to the statement.
Rakower instructed the foreign supplier to falsely label the exotic fish on packing lists as silver tetras, a common and unaggressive aquarium fish, because New York City prohibited the possession of piranhas, the statement said.
Rakower smuggled 39,548 piranhas over the course of 2011 and 2012, at a cost of approximately $37,376, according to the statement.
Piranhas, freshwater fish originating in South American rivers, are described as extremely aggressive and territorial. As a result, two dozen states have either banned or regulated piranhas, making them illegal to own or sell.
Rakower was "driven by greed and without regard for the health and safety of people or the environment", said Queens District Attorney Richard Brown, who helped investigate the case.
Rakower agreed to pay more than $70,000 in fines and restitution, and his company will serve a two-year period of probation. Rakower will be sentenced on 24 April 2014.
Rico says he should be sentenced to swimming with them...

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