Man Imprisoned for Animal and Plant Smuggling

by Sherry Morse and Patricia Collier

A California resident recently was sentenced to 57 days in jail after pleading guilty to attempting to smuggle members of endangered animal and plant species into the United States.

Robert John Cusack was detained at Los Angeles International Airport after arriving on a flight from Thailand. He was carrying two pygmy monkeys in his trousers, and had four birds of paradise in nylon stockings inside one of his suitcases. Fifty orchids also were found in Cusack’s luggage.

"It became non-routine when they opened his luggage and a bird of paradise took off flying in the terminal," said Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Johns.

When customs inspectors asked Cusack if he had anything else to tell them about, the 45-year-old man said, "Yes - I’ve got monkeys in my pants."

Cusack falsely claimed to be an environmentalist who had purchased the animals and plants in Jakarta, Indonesia and was taking them to a wildlife sanctuary in Costa Rica.

Along with being imprisoned, Cusack was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to a primate refuge in Texas at which the two monkeys had been quarantined before they were taken in by the Los Angeles Zoo and Botanical Gardens.

Officials said that Cusack was ordered to serve significantly less time in prison than most other individuals would have been because he has advanced Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

© 2003 Animal News Center, Inc.