Columbus doctor fined $900,000 in largest bird mount trafficking case
The DOJ said Dr. John Waldrop of Cataula was ordered to pay a $900,000 fine and serve three years of probation. The fine is one of the largest for an Endangered Species Act case, according to the DOJ.
Toney Jones, of Eufaula, Alabama, was sentenced to six months of probation, the DOJ said.
'Waldrop pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to smuggle wildlife and ESA violations, while Jones pleaded guilty to an ESA charge,' the DOJ said in a news release.
The DOJ said court documents and statements showed Waldrop collected 1,401 taxidermy bird mounts and 2,594 eggs, including:
Four eagles protected by the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act
179 bird and 193 egg species listed in the Migratory Bird Treaty Act
212 bird and 32 egg species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). This includes rare specimens like three eggs of the Nordmann's Greenshank, an Asian shorebird with only 900 to 1,600 remaining birds in the wild; no North American museum has any Nordmann Greenshank eggs in their collection.
'Waldrop's gigantic and rare bird collection was bolstered in part by illegal imports, where he and his enlisted co-conspirators intentionally avoided permit and declaration requirements,' Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division (ENRD) said in the news release.
'This is one of the largest bird trafficking cases in history, and the commercialization of species protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and CITES highlights the conservation impact of Waldrop's crimes,' Assistant Director Douglas Ault of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Office of Law Enforcement said in the news release.
The DOJ said Waldrop imported birds and eggs without the required declarations and permits between 2016 and 2020.
Waldrop recruited Jones to receive the packages after USFWS inspectors intercepted several shipments, according to the DOJ.
'Jones also deposited approximately $525,000 in a bank account that Waldrop then used to pay for the imports and hide his involvement,' the DOJ release says.
The DOJ said the pair used websites like eBay and Etsy to buy birds and eggs from around the world. Waldrop forfeited his collection, according to the DOJ.
'The USFWS National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Lab examined the items and determined it to be the largest seizure of bird mounts in their 37-year history,' the release says.
The investigation was conducted by the USFWS Office of Law Enforcement in Valley Stream, N.Y., as part of Operation Final Flight, according to the DOJ.
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