Oregon Man Sentenced For Illegally Importing And Exporting Scorpions

MEDFORD, OR —An Oregon man was sentenced to probation, community service and a fine Wednesday in federal court after he pleaded guilty to illegally importing and exporting hundreds of live scorpions, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Oregon announced.

Darren Dennis Drake, a 39-year-old from Eugene, who previously lived in Southern Oregon, pleaded guilty in March to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act, which makes it illegal to trade wildlife and plants that have been illegally stolen or sold.

Drake was sentenced to two years of federal probation, 250 hours of community service and a $5,000 fine payable to the Lacey Act Reward Fund, authorities said.

According to court documents, between September 2017 and March 2018, Drake imported dozens of live scorpions from Germany without having the proper import-export license from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS).

Drake also mailed or received several hundred live scorpions from other U.S. states, including Michigan and Texas, which was in violation of federal mailing laws, court records show.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), one parcel of scorpions that was intercepted at the U.S. border was falsely labeled as "chocolates" by Drake.

The case was investigated by the FWS Office of Law Enforcement with assistance from the CBP and U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

According to the FWS, the agency is responsible for protecting America's wildlife from poaching, illegal commercialization and other kinds of wildlife crime. The FWS asks anyone with information related to wildlife crime to contact the agency via phone at 1-844-FWS-TIPS (1-844-397-8477) or by email at fws_tips@fws.gov.