TEXAS
The U.S. extradited an Irishman from England for trafficking in rhinoceros horns, officials announced.
Patrick Sheridan, an Irish national, was arrested on Jan. 9, in the United Kingdom for his role in trafficking black rhino horns, officials said Tuesday.
“This extradition is a significant step forward in our international efforts to address wildlife trafficking and demonstrates that our international partners are also committed to ending this illegal trade in endangered species,” said Assistant Attorney General Cruden. “Rhino horn trafficking is having a devastating effect on the rhino and the allegations facing this individual are just the type of illegal behavior that is fueling an international market for horns. We must stop it in its tracks.”
The black rhino once roamed most of sub-Saharan Africa, but today is on the verge of extinction due to poaching fueled by commercial demand, according to National Geographic.
Black rhinos boast two horns, the foremost more prominent than the other. Rhino horns grow as much as three inches a year, and have been known to grow up to five feet long, according to National Geographic. Females use their horns to protect their young, while males use them to battle attackers.
On May 13, 2014, a federal grand jury in Waco, Texas, returned an indictment that has since been unsealed, charging Sheridan and a co-defendant with conspiring to traffic in horns from black rhinoceros.
In addition to conspiracy, the indictment charges substantive violations of the Lacey Act for wildlife trafficking and making a false wildlife document.
According to the indictment, Sheridan, along with a co-defendant and Michael Slattery Jr., used a “straw buyer” to purchase two black rhinoceros horns from a taxidermist in Texas, which the group then transported to New York, where they sold the horns.
In January 2014, Michael Slattery Jr. plead guilty and was sentenced 14-months in prison for his role in the conspiracy.
In addition to the trafficking, the indictment also charges Sheridan and his co-defendant with making a fictitious and fraudulent bill of sale in connection with the rhinoceros horns, in an attempt to make their illegal purchase of the horns appear legal, according to officials.
Sheridan’s arraignment and detention hearing is scheduled in federal court in Waco on Sept. 24, 2015.
He is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.