Man fined $50K in Vermont for illegally importing carvings made of sperm whale teeth, walrus tusk

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a California man has been fined $50,000 in Vermont for smuggling carvings made from sperm whale teeth and walrus tusk across the U.S.-Canadian border. The U.S. attorney’s office says the man and his wife arrived at the Highgate Springs border crossing in July of 2021 after buying nine Inuit carvings from an art gallery in Montreal. Court papers say he told the border officer that he was bringing back one stone statue from Quebec but after inspecting the trunk the officer found nine statues, including three later determined to be made of sperm whale teeth and a fourth made of walrus tusk.  He pleaded guilty on Tuesday to a misdemeanor charge of unlawfully importing wildlife parts and was sentenced to a fine of $50,000