Canadian Resident Sentenced for Smuggling Dinosaur Fossils Displayed at Tucson Gem Show

     TUCSON, Ariz. – Today, Jun Yang, 36, of Richmond, British Columbia, Canada was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Cindy K. Jorgenson to five years probation, and a $25,000 fine.   Yang previously pleaded guilty to smuggling.

      During the 2015 Tucson Gem and Mineral Show, Jun Yang, president of Arctic Products, Inc., displayed for sale one Psittacosaurus fossil and 16 Hadrosaur egg fossils.  The Psittacosaurus fossil was priced at $15,000 and each egg fossil at $450.  Yang told undercover investigators that the egg fossils were from a “duck-billed” dinosaur in China.   Yang also explained that the Psittacosaurus fossil was 100 to 130 million years old and dug from the Henan province in central China.  Yang admitted he illegally removed the fossils from China and smuggled them in shipping containers into the United States. Yang was arrested following the sale of the egg fossils.

      The investigation was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations. The prosecution was handled by Sandra M. Hansen, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Tucson.

CASE NUMBER:           CR- 15-01162-CKJ        

RELEASE NUMBER:   2016-014_Yang

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