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Hayes Charged PDF
Hayes Charged PDF
Hayes Charged PDF
17
Oct 24, 2014
14-80201-CR-HURLEY/HOPKINS
Case No.
16U.S.C.j1538(a)(1)(E),(F),and (c)
16U.S.C.j3372(a)(1)and (a)(4)
16U.S.C.j3373(d)(1)(B)
18U.S.C.j371
18U.S.C.j554
18U.S.C.j2
UNITED STATES O F AM ER ICA
V.
(18U.S.C.j371)
TheUnited StatesAttorney ehargesthat:
BACK GROUND
Atalltimesm aterialto thislnform ation:
Defendant ELITE ESTATE BUYERS,INC. d/b/a ELITE DECO RATIVE
ELITE and HAYES were in the businessofaccepting item son consignm entand
selling those item s to winning bidders through auction. The defendants also sold consigned
itemsdirectly to individualsthrough private sales. H AYES represented himselfto be an expert
ELITE'S day-to-day business, met with potential and actual consignors, and prepared
consigmhentcontrad s.
5.
responded to inquiries aboutcatalogue and website item s from potentialbidders, and received
paymentinform ation and paym entsfrom buyers.
$J.B.''wasan independentcontractorpaid by ELITE. Togetherwith others, J.B .
issued checksto consignors.
8.
ELITE'Scatalogueand website.
9.
lshipper-l'' and l%shipper-z'' were businesses engaged in the dom estic and
intem ationalshipment of item s,including item s sold by ELITE through auctions and private
sales.ELITE'Swebsitedesignated Shipper-land Shipper-z aspreferred Shippers.''
10.
were involved in the business of purchasing Asian artand antiques in the United States for
customers in China,including objects made from rhinoceros hol'n and elephant ivory,and
arranging for those item s to be smuggled out ofthe United States and into Hong Kong and
China.
R ezulation ofT rade in E ndanzered Species
14.
Code,Section 1532(6).
The term threatened species''m eans any species which is likely to become an
endangered species within the foreseeable future throughout al1or a signitk antportion of its
A11species determined to be endangered under the ESA are listed in Title 50,
17.
Rhinoceros are characterized by their enormous size, leathery skin and hom s.
Rhinoceroshol'
n isprized in some culturesforitsalleged m edicinalvalue orforitsuseascarved
in theUnited States. The escalatingvalue ofthese item shasresulted in an increased dem and for
rhinoceros horn,and has helped to foster a thriving black m arket, which includes modern
carvings being sold as antiques. M ost species of rhinoceros are extinct or on the brink of
extinction asaresultofthisthrivingblack m arket.
18.
in interstate or foreign com m erce,by any m eans w hatsoeverand in the course of a com m ercigl
activity,endangered species of fish and wildlife,including Black rhinoceros. The ESA also
1538(a)(1)(E)and(F)and 1540(b)(1).
The Convention on IntemationalTrade in Endangered Species (CITES) is an
intem ationalagreem ent,to which theUnited Statesisa party,which entered into force in 1975.
CITES regulates the international trade and transport of species that are threatened with
20. TheAsian elephant(Elephasmaximus)isa speciesofelephantnativeto southcentral and southeastern A sia.The A sian elephant is listed in A ppendix l of CITES, and w as
(specifcally those from South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe) are listed in
Appendix Il,accompanied by a specialannotation allowing only non-com mercialinternational
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are notavailable.
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that involves the sale or purchase, or attem pted sale or purchase in interstate or foreign
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com merce ofwildlife with a m arketvalue in excess of$350.00,knowing thatthe wildlife was
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regulation ofthe United States. Title 16,United States Code,Sections 3372(a)(1)and (a)(4),
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2011,and continuing through on or about M arch 31, 2013, in Palm Beach County, in the
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nDistrictofFloridaandelsewhere,thedefendants,
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and
CH R IST O PH E R H A Y ES,
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willfully,that is,with the intent to further the objects of the conspiracy, and knowingly
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StatesAtt
omey,tocommitcertainoffensesagainsttheUnitedStates,thatis:
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(a)
toknowinglytransport,sell,receive,andacquire,anywildlifewithamarketvalue
fm ore than $350 00,knowing thatitwastransported and sold in violation ofthe Endangered
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Species Act(Title 16,United States Code,Sections 1538(a)(1)(E) and (F) and l538(c)),in
violation ofthe Lacey Act(Title 16,United StatesCode,Sections3372(a)(1),3372(a)(4),and
3373(d)(1)(B));and
(b) to knowingly receive, conceal, buy, sell, and in any manner facilitate the
whoresided in Plantation,Florida.
On oraboutFebruary 7,2012,the defendants advertised via tionline Auctions,''
an intemet-based auction database,thatthe horn the defendants received from M .B.on January
50l(the hol.
n received from M .B.on January 30,2012)through a tprivate''orkstraight''sale
(notatauction)toCC-1,aTexasresident,for$70,000.
Between on or aboutM arch l9,20l2,through on or aboutApril l2,2012,the
defendantsreceivedbankdepositsinthenameofCC-1,totaling$80,500($70,000salepriceplus
a 15% tibuyer'spremitzm''to ELITE)forthesaleofthehornthedefendantsreceivedfrom M .B.
on January 30,2012.
horn received from A.W .as Lot600,W ntique African Huge Rhinoceros Ho1% ''fora winning
Black rhinoceros horn with a silverbase (hereinafter referred to as 4tthe silver honf'l from
$1A.W .,''who resided in New York,New York.
9.
$70,000.
10.
601, along with several items made from elephant ivory (Lot: 519, described in the
advertisem entas tchinese Carved lvory Concentric Dragons Urn;''Lot:582,described in the
statedtlYes,thank you.''
On oraboutJuly 2,2012,thedefendantsreceived a wire transferin the amountof
$37,779.50, in Canada Buyer's nam e,at a branch of Bank of America, located at 13850
W ellington D rive,W ellington,Florida.
18.
stated ltYes,1have,we are preparing youritemsand willnotify the shippersonce youritem sare
readyto bepicked up.''
On oraboutJuly 10,2012,Shipper-z,sentthe item spurchased by Canada Buyer
onJune'
25,2012,to Canada Buyeratan addressin Richmond,British Columbia,Canada.
Second InterstateSale ofaBlack RhinocerosHorn to UndercoverAgent
20.
advertised via Online Auctions,the November 10,2012,auction sale ofa raw horn from aBlack
also described the horn as ttaot 101 - Antique Rhinoceros Horn...pre-sale estim ate $30,000 -
$50 000.''
On oraboutNovember 10,2012,in Boynton Beach,Florida,the defendants sold
Lot101,ahornfrom aBlackrhinoceros,atauctionforawinningbidof$36,800($32,000plusa
tcoloradoConsignor').
25.
On or about January 16, 2013,the defendants sold the horns received from
ColoradoConsignorinaprivatesale(notatauction)to CC-2,aresidentofTexas,for$55,000.
On oraboutJanuary 23,2013,thedefendantsreceived aw ire transferof$55,000
forthe hornssold on January 16,2013 to C C-2.
W ildlife Sold and Transported in Foreicn Com m erce
27.
28.
29.
thatthe proper perm its were not obtained,aided and abetted in shipping Lot 145 out of the
United Statesto Taiwan.
Allin violation ofTitle 18,United StatesCode,Section 371.
By: t
SAM HIRSCH
Acting AssistantAttorney General
Environm ent& N attlralResources Division
United States Departm ntofJustice
By:
,1.-.-
W FREDO A .FERRER
United StatesAttorney
Sc) hernDistrictofFlorida
By:
G RY N.D NNER f
TralA ttorney
Environm entalCrim es Section
14
CASENO.
VS.
ELITEESTATEBUYER,INC.d/b/a
ELITEDECORATIVEARTS,and
CHRISTOPHER HAYES,
Defendant.
/
EourtDivision.(selectone)
M iam i
FTL
X
New Defendantts)
Key W est
W PB
FTP
Yes
No
Ihave carefully considered the allegationsofthe indictm ent,the num berofdefendants,the num berof
probablewitnessesandtheIegalcomplexitiesoftheIndictment/lnformationattachedhereto.
Iam awarethatthe inform ationsupplied onthisstatem entwillberelied upon bytheJudgesofthisCourtin
setting theircalendarsand scheduling criminaltrialsunderthe m andate ofthe Speedy TrialAct,Title 28
U.S.C.Section 3161.
Interpreter: (YesorNo)
ListIanguageand/ordialect
NO
Thiscasewilltake 0 daysforthepartiestotry.
Pleasecheckappropriatecategoryand type ofoffenseIistedbelow :
(Checkonfyone)
0to 5days
(Checkonlyone)
X (PLEA)
Petty
11
11
IV
V:
6to 10 days
11 to 20 days
21to 60 days
61daysand over
6.
HasthiscasebeenpreviouslyfiledinthisDistrictCourt? (YesorNo)
I
fyes:
Judge:
M inor
M isdem .
Felony
NO
Case No.
(Attachcopyofdispositiveorder)
Hasacomplaintbeenfiledinthismatter?
Ifyes:
M agistrate Case No.
Related M iscellaneousnum bers:
(YesorNo)
NO
13-08147-W M
Defendantts)infederalcustodyasof
Defendantts)instatecustodyasof
Rule20from the
lsthisapotentialdeathpenaltycase?(YesorNo)
Dlstrlcto
NO
Doesthiscase ori
ginate from a m atterpending in e CentralRegion ofthe U.S.Attorney'sOffice pri
orto
Septem ber1,2007?
Yes
X
No
>
*penaltySheetts)attached
REv4/8/08
Count# 1:
Conspiracy to Traftic Protected W ildlife
*M ax.Penalty: Five(5)years'imprisonment
Count#.
.
*M ax.Penalty:
Count#:
*M ax.Penalty:
Count
*M ax.Penalty:
Count# 1:
Conspiracy to TrafficProtected W ildlife
*M ax.Penalty:
Count#:
*M ax.Penalty:
Count
*M ax.Penalty: