Judge Sends Sea Turtle Egg Smugglers to Prison
Assistant U.S. Attorney Melanie K. Pierson (619) 546-7976
NEWS RELEASE SUMMARY – May 6, 2016
SAN DIEGO – Jose and Olga Jimenez of Hemet, California, were sentenced in federal court today to six months in custody for smuggling 911 eggs of the endangered olive ridley sea turtles into the United States from Mexico.
In imposing sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Janis L. Sammartino noted that the case involved the largest seizure in U.S. history of sea turtle eggs imported from Mexico, and the method of transportation (26 hours on ice by bus) caused the eggs not to be viable, preventing any mitigation. Judge Sammartino stated that a custodial sentence was justified based on the serious impact on the species resulting from the offense.
According to sentencing papers filed with the court, on November 23, 2014, Olga Jimenez boarded a bus in Nayarit, Mexico, in order to travel north to Tijuana. Ms. Jimenez had spent the week visiting family and was traveling with her sister. Ms. Jimenez brought with her a large white cooler containing 911 sea turtle eggs (weighing 61 pounds). The eggs were stored in nine plastic bags, concealed underneath a thin layer of fish and shrimp, and separated from the fish and shrimp by an additional layer of ice.
On November 24, 2014, Olga’s husband, Jose Jimenez, drove from their residence in Hemet, California, to the border and walked across to meet her in Mexico. The defendants met at the bus station in Tijuana and transferred the eggs from Ms. Jimenez’s single white cooler into two smaller red coolers that Mr. Jimenez had brought with him. The couple again covered the eggs with a layer of ice and then a layer of fish and shrimp on top.
Two of the defendants’ sons had traveled to Mexico to meet their aunt and drive her from the bus station in Tijuana to her residence in the Los Angeles area. The defendants asked their son to take the two coolers across the border in his pick-up truck. Their sons agreed after being told that the coolers contained only fish and shrimp, presuming the coolers would be dropped off at their parent’s home in Hemet.
The sons and their aunt attempted to enter the United States in the pick-up truck, while the defendants entered the United States as pedestrians. At the San Ysidro Port of Entry, their son driving declared the fish and shrimp he was told were in the cooler. The border inspectors began searching the cooler and quickly discovered the contraband sea turtle eggs. When confronted with the eggs, all three individuals in the pick-up truck told the officers that they were unaware of the eggs origin or presence.
Olga Jimenez was aware that her children and sister had been sent to secondary inspection because one of her sons had called her as soon as they were stopped. After the sea turtle eggs were discovered, she did not respond to several phone calls and texts from her son.
According to the sentencing papers, Olga Jimenez has sold seafood in the United States in the past. Her clients include a mechanic who told investigators that he has purchased seafood from Ms. Jimenez approximately 20 times and that he usually purchased seafood from her by the kilogram. He also related that she has sold him specialty items such as marlin and scallops.
Olga Jimenez has also been stopped at the border on several other occasions for attempting to bring seafood and protected species into the United States. Customs records indicate that on June 23, 2013, Olga Jimenez entered the United States with five parrots and 5 pounds of ciruelas (a plum not permitted entry due to the potential to contaminate U.S. crops). The ciruelas were concealed under a layer of dried shrimp in a box. The parrots were found to be a species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) and were seized, along with the cireulas, and Jimenez was assessed an administrative penalty.
On August 27, 2009, Olga Jimenez was returned to Mexico because she was bringing a commercial quantity of food without a commercial declaration. On March 20, 2009, Olga Jimenez was admonished as a recidivist, bringing a commercial quantity of food without a commercial declaration. On March 5, 2009, Olga Jimenez was returned to Mexico for bringing a commercial quantity of fish and shrimp into the United States without a commercial declaration. On May 30, 2008, Olga Jimenez was assessed an administrative penalty as a recidivist for bringing in a commercial quantity of food without a commercial declaration. On October 10, 1999, Olga Jimenez was admonished for bringing in a commercial quantity of fish. On July 24, 1999, Olga Jimenez was assessed an administrative penalty for bringing in a commercial quantity of fish.
The significance of the defendants’ illegal acts is further heightened by the paucity of olive ridley sea turtles in Mexico. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Nayarit area currently only has a nesting population of 100 females. The impact of poaching on this small population is more significant than on a large nesting beach, as sea turtles come back to the same nesting beach from which they hatched. The 911 eggs taken by the defendant represent 4.3% of the total egg production for that nesting season at the beach in Nayarit.
Offenses involving eggs have a unique capacity to harm the species. When an egg is destroyed, the defendant removes not only that specific potential animal from the population, but also all potential offspring that could have eventually been borne by that animal and its descendants. According to the statistics from the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources relating to the hatch rate and reproductive rate, the number of third generation offspring lost in this case is greater than the entire nesting population of olive ridley sea turtles in Nayarit.
Olive ridley and sea turtles were initially identified as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act, in 1978, and in 1981, they were placed on Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (“CITES”). Both Mexico and the United States are signatories to CITES. It is a violation of law in both countries to trade in olive ridley sea turtles or any part of those sea turtles, including their eggs, without permission from the respective governments.
Olive ridley sea turtles (Lepidochelys olivacea) inhabit a broad range extending in the South Atlantic Ocean from West Africa to South America and in the eastern Pacific Ocean from Southern California to Northern Chile. Adults weigh approximately 100 pounds, and have olive/grayish-green heart-shaped shells measuring 22‑31 inches in diameter.
“The loss of hundreds of endangered sea turtle eggs is immeasurable,” said U.S. Attorney Laura Duffy. “This case is another example of our commitment to prosecuting wildlife traffickers who seek to profit from illegal trade in endangered species here at the border.”
“The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement works diligently with our partner agencies at the border to curb the illegal wildlife trade as it indelibly harms a wide variety of endangered species,” said US Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent in Charge Jill Birchell. “In their unscrupulous quest to reap profits, smugglers of wildlife and wildlife products continue to damage extremely vulnerable species, and are pushing some critically endangered animals and plants on a path toward extinction. Halting the illegal wildlife trade remains one of our highest priorities.”
“Smuggling wildlife of any kind, especially endangered species, is something we take seriously,” said Eileen Sobeck, assistant administrator for NOAA Fisheries. “We will not tolerate violation of federal and international laws regarding the illegal trade of endangered species, and we will continue to take a hard stance in combating wildlife trafficking.”
A further hearing regarding the amount of restitution to be paid to the government of Mexico for the loss of its natural resource is set for Friday, June 10, 2016, at 2:00 p.m.
DEFENDANTS Criminal Case No. 15cr2867-JLS
Olga Jimenez Age: 52
Hemet, California
Jose Jimenez Age: 64
Hemet, California
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Conspiracy – Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371
Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine
Smuggling- Title 18, U.S.C., Section 545
Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine
Importation Contrary to Law- Title 18, U.S.C., Section 545
Maximum penalty: Twenty years in prison and $250,000 fine
Unlawful Trafficking in Wildlife-Title 16, U.S.C. Sections 3372 and 3373
Maximum penalty: Five years in prison and $250,000 fine
Criminal Forfeiture- Title 16, U.S.C., Section 3374
AGENCIES
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Office of Law Enforcement
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office of Law Enforcement