Singaporean national, Lawrence Wee Soon Chye, now 43, was also sentenced in 2003 to 37 months prison for smuggling protected animals into the US.
The former advisor to National Geographic filmmakers, who had an authoritative knowledge of reptiles, was scolded by Orlando judge John Antoon, who wished out loud that he could sentence Chye to a much longer sentence than the 37 months federal guidelines allow.
Chye was convicted of smuggling several hundred protected reptiles into and out of the US in 2002 and 2003 by sending them in express mail packages mislabeled as magazines or books.
Many died in transit while those who did survive the trip posed significant risk of salmonella infection.
The World Wildlife Federation estimates that almost 90 per cent of smuggled animals die in transit: they're packed carelessly, they starve, they die of thirst, crush or eat each other, or are left on tarmacs waiting to be boarded on planes.
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