Couple Sentenced for Cross-Border Protected Wildlife Trafficking

Anaheim couple Linh Luu and Kevin Le were sentenced to three years of probation and fined $10,000 each after pleading guilty to violating the Lacey Act. Prosecutors said they processed $51,100 in payments from 2019 to 2021 to traffic protected wildlife parts between Oregon and Vietnam, including bear gallbladders, cougar bones, lion teeth, rhinoceros horns and a tiger pelt. During a 2020 undercover operation, they accepted $12,000 toward a rhino-horn sale, discussed evading banking safeguards and later received nearly $5,000 each. The horn segment was shipped to Oregon disguised as a household decoration, and prosecutors said the transaction was intended to build trust for larger deals. The couple lacked required permits for the wildlife trade.