A North Hollywood pool cue maker was sentenced Monday to a two-year probationary term, which will include four months of home confinement, for trying to smuggle parts of billiard sticks made from protected African elephant ivory to buyers in Taiwan.
Cesar Ernesto Gutierrez, 75, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge John F. Walter to immediately pay a criminal fine of $10,000, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Gutierrez pleaded guilty on Aug. 29 to aiding and abetting the attempted smuggling of African elephant ivory.
He has been making ornate custom cues since the 1960s, and customers of his Ginacue company have included Minnesota Fats, Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr.
The April arrests at Los Angeles International Airport of two Taiwan- bound men carrying almost four-dozen sections of sticks inlaid with ivory led investigators to Gutierrez, court papers show.
The men — Huang Ching”Chady” Liu and Wen Shou Wei “Zen” Chen — told investigators that they bought many of the parts containing ivory inlays from Gutierrez for between $75,000 and $85,000, according to prosecutors.
Both men pleaded guilty to federal attempted smuggling charges and are awaiting sentencing.
Earlier this year, a website linked to Liu had advertised for sale a stick inlaid with ivory and silver, with an option for an “elephant ear skin wrap,” for $3,650, court papers show.
“The protection of our endangered wildlife is an ongoing international concern, particularly with the devastating impact on African elephants caused by illegal ivory trafficking,” said Eileen M. Decker, the U.S. attorney in Los Angeles. “Illegal trafficking of any part of a protected species creates a demand that can lead to the extinction of these vulnerable populations.”
The government has the authority to regulate ivory sales under the Endangered Species Act.
–City News Service