BANGOR, Maine — A New Jersey man found guilty last year of conspiracy and money laundering in connection with a narwhal tusk smuggling operation is to be sentenced Monday morning in U.S. District Court.
Andrew J. Zarauskas, 61, of Union , New Jersey, faces up to 20 years in federal prison. He also could be fined $500,000 or twice the value of the money involved in the offense, whichever is greater.
The jury of nine men and three women on Feb. 14 found Zarauskas guilty on one count each of conspiracy to smuggle goods into the United States, conspiracy to launder money, smuggling goods into the U.S. and money laundering.
Zarauskas has remained free on bail since then.
Jurors deliberated for three hours and 20 minutes following a 3 1/2 day trial in federal court.
Evidence presented during the trial showed that Zarauskas paid $35 an inch for the tusks and sold them for $70. He paid Gregory Robert Logan a total more than $85,000 between November 2002 and July 2008 for what was estimated to be 33 tusks.
In sentencing memoranda filed last year, federal prosecutor Todd S. Mikolop, who works in the Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, recommended U.S. District Judge John Woodcock sentence Zarauskas to between 41 and 51 months in prison.
Defense attorney Stephen Smith of Augusta disputed that recommendation in his sentencing memorandum. Smith said his client should spend between 27 and 33 months in prison.
The disparity in the recommended sentences is due to how each lawyer calculated the fair market value of the narwhal tusks. Mikolop estimated they were valued at between $200,000 and $400,000. Smith argued that the value of the tusks was $85,089, which is what Zarauskas paid for them.
Zarauskas was indicted in November 2012 by a federal grand jury with Jay Gus Conrad, 68, of Lakeland Tennessee; Gregory Robert Logan, 57, and his wife, Nina Logan, 54, both of Woodmans Point, New Brunswick, and Grande Prairie, Alberta.
Gregory Logan obtained the tusks in Canada and sold them on the Internet to Zarauskas, Conrad and others, according to trial testimony. Logan then concealed them under his truck and in a hidden compartment in a trailer he pulled behind the truck and crossed the border without the required permits and paperwork. Conrad and Zarauskas then sold them to others in the U.S.
The Canadian mailed the tusks to Zarauskas and other customers from FedEx in Bangor. Logan had buyers send payments to a post office box in Ellsworth and deposited the money in branches of the Machias Savings Bank.
The male narwhal’s ivory tusk spirals counter-clockwise from its head and can be as long as eight feet, according to NationalGeographic.com. That spiral marking was notable on the eight-foot long tusk shown to the jury Tuesday during the prosecution’s opening statement. Scientists have speculated it is prominent in mating rituals, perhaps used to impress females or battle rival suitors.
The narwhal is a medium-size whale native to Arctic waters and protected in the U.S. by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. In Canada, it is protected in the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. Only the Inuit may legally harvest the whale in Canada. The Inuit also may legally sell the tusks in Canada.
The cranium and tusks presented as evidence at Zarauskas’ trial will be retained as evidence for the prosecution of the Logans. After their cases have been resolved, the items would not be forfeited to the government but could be used for educational or scientific purposes. Where they would go mostly likely would be up to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
Conrad pleaded guilty a year ago to one count each of conspiracy to smuggle goods into the U.S., conspiracy to launder money and smuggling goods into the U.S. He is free on bail awaiting sentencing, set for March 13 in Bangor.
A former Canadian Mountie, Gregory Logan on Feb. 1, 2014, completed four months of home confinement. He was ordered to pay a $385,000 fine — the highest ever issued in Canada for violating that country’s wildlife laws, according to Canadian news reports. Logan also was prohibited from possessing or purchasing marine mammal products for a period of 10 years.
The ex-Mountie is awaiting extradition to the U.S., according to court documents filed in federal court in Bangor.
Nina Logan has not been arrested on the U.S. charges. Charges against her in Canada were dismissed in 2013 after Gregory Logan pleaded guilty in New Brunswick to crimes connected to the smuggling operation.
Conrad and the Logans, if convicted, each face the same penalty Zarauskas does.
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