US Dealer Involved in Smuggling revealed in court documents

[patrickbull]

It does suck that Paul knew what he was doing could hurt the entire hobby. I don't believe this was right. Enough has been said about that though. There is really nothing I can ad to that aspect of this situation.

Instead I'm going to step back and try to look at the root of the problem. It is all the ridiculous laws! It almost seems like people are missing the big picture. Cases like this will always occur unless we work towards reforming these. Now if we were to do away with the collecting and import laws a great responsibility would fall on YOU the hobbyist.

You should be asking every person you purchase from whether or not the T is captive bred. Also, when new species to the hobby are imported it would be very important to get them established quickly. This means breed the heck out of it and get those babies to as many as you can to do the same. Soon we would only have the need to import new species.

I dunno, there is some lofty idealistic thinking for you lol.

 

[patrick86]

For once, and probably only this once, I am going to have to agree with Todd.
That was the biggest bull<crap> half-ass apology/admitting-I-did-it-only-because-I-got-caught statement I've seen to date.
And to have the audacity to mention your mothers finances to somehow attempt to justify your actions? Lots of us have personal problems, but do we break federal law? No.

You left a big skid mark on this hobby.

Congrats.

I have to agree.

 

[Bill S]

Bill,
and how do you know this end of story? please care to share
Thank you

It's described in the documents that have been released and linked to in this discussion.

---------- Post added at 08:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:48 PM ----------

Bill I don't think they took over his email or he could not have run his business still.....now did they force him with a plea to do it...well only Paul can answer those questions I think.

In the documents that have been linked to here it states that the feds took over his e-mail account and used it for the purpose of catching Sven.

Here's a direct quote from the court documents:

Beginning on April 9, 2009 and continuing for the following few months, SA
Montouri took control of PB’s e-mail account and communicated with Mr. Koppler in
a undercover capacity to place orders for spiders, and specifically ordering large
amounts of the protected species of spiders. In November of 2010, SA Mountouri
acting as PB, invited Mr. Koppler to come to the United States, all expenses paid, and
to be a guest of honor for his pet shop opening. SA Mountouri still acting as PB
suggests to Mr. Koppler to bring spiders on his person while traveling from Germany.
Eventually, Mr. Koppler declines this request and no spiders were found on him when
he was arrested, shortly after entering the United States. (See Exhibit “K,” E-mails
between PB and Sven Koppler).

Note that SA Montouri is Special Agent Montouri. PB is Paul Becker.

 

[Gciguana]

When I heard about this story I was sad. Sad that someone would do this. Then I realized I wasn't really sad, I was angry. Angry that someone would do this and potentially do harm to the hobby I love. We have a hard enough time getting people to accept T's, we don't need morons out there breaking the law and adding fuel to the fire.

 

[jt39565]

Its funny how people say "He put a black mark on the hobby" Really to who? Who else knows this happened? I didn't see it on any newsbroadcast, or read about it in the paper. Go ahead and use him as a scapegoat if it makes you happy.
Just remember the good book says - "Judge not lest yee be judged" & "Let He who is without sin cast the first stone"

 

[KoriTamashii]

Its funny how people say "He put a black mark on the hobby" Really to who? Who else knows this happened? I didn't see it on any newsbroadcast, or read about it in the paper. Go ahead and use him as a scapegoat if it makes you happy.
Just remember the good book says - "Judge not lest yee be judged" & "Let He who is without sin cast the first stone"

I agree, for the most part. But now there is a black mark, indeed, especially for confused new people in the hobby who now don't know who to trust.

There are those of us who don't need the 'good book' to tell us those things, by the way. It's called common sense, and we wouldn't be in this mess if a few someones had used it.

 

[thebugwife]

Its funny how people say "He put a black mark on the hobby" Really to who? Who else knows this happened? I didn't see it on any news broadcast, or read about it in the paper.

Was on San Diego news broadcast Yesterday, I had a 73 year old lady ask me if I knew about this today, the San Diego Zoo received some of the confiscated spiders. There are pics of them on the Zoo's facebook and I had 3 different people send me the facebook link. None of these are people in the hobby.

Was just sent THIS.

Here is one CNN Story.


Not to mention the articles you can look at in the original thread about this.

 

[kylestl]

Its funny how people say "He put a black mark on the hobby" Really to who? Who else knows this happened? I didn't see it on any newsbroadcast, or read about it in the paper. Go ahead and use him as a scapegoat if it makes you happy.
Just remember the good book says - "Judge not lest yee be judged" & "Let He who is without sin cast the first stone"

Already is illegal to ship through USPS and is questionable to ship through Fedex and UPS you think this helps them want to allow shipping of t's? Probably not. He put a black mark on the hobby.

 

[selina20]

It is only the list of purchases which included CITES animals, worldwide. It, nor I state anything other than "it is a list". It was part of the documentation which included Rick West's Declaration used for sentencing. It maybe that every single sale on that list was "legal", I have not reviewed every court document for the court's ruling or opinions.

Its not though. Some people on there i know for a fact never imported citied listed animals. Also what has annoyed us the most is that they have accessed our paypal accounts to get details. Its not illegal to send citied animals through Europe. We shall be contacting paypal about this issue as we never realised this had happened until someone forwarded the link to me yesterday.

 

[AmbushArachnids]

The government will likely not put a stop to imports or keeping. There is too much profit involved in people following rules vs busting people. It cost money to police us. And for what reason? Tarantulas are not overly invasive like huge snakes.

If you think the government cares more about the environment vs incoming profit your sadly mistaken.

 

[kylestl]

The government will likely not put a stop to imports or keeping. There is too much profit involved in people following rules vs busting people. It cost money to police us. And for what reason? Tarantulas are not overly invasive like huge snakes.

If you think the government cares more about the environment vs incoming profit your sadly mistaken.

I was talking domestic shipping.........

 

[Gnat]

i myself cannot cast the first stone as i have 'brown bagged' before shipping inverts. i have also received 'brown bag' shipments from other random hobbyists as well as several of the more respected dealers that have posted here, (although many of those were years ago). ok, so guy had some hard times and suffered under stress from a variety of things, <poop> happens. while stressed you will do things you wouldnt normally do, lapse in judgement. you realize there is an easier way. the authorities wont look for it because its just bugs. who cares if you smuggle bugs? besides, its not drugs, how bad can the punishment be? unfortunately he got caught and now is being beaten up for the same thing many of us are guilty of. ive never shipped or received internationally. after reading about this i am for sure never going to ship or receive inverts again without making sure everything is on the up and up. quit beating the guy up, as bad as it is its a common practice, Paul just got caught.

 

[Stopdroproll]

20 years?! That's almost as much as sex offenders... just saying...

I always thought Paul Becker was a very reputable dealer. Low prices and very helpful. I was a little suspect when Sven got caught and mentions of the US importer being from California. Even though he was reputable, for some reason his name popped into my mind.

 

[Unravel]

Also, people i see are MOST adamant about bringing Paul down are other dealers. Some odd zeal there. I know you guys have a LOT to profit from with Paul out of the picture, he was one of the few who didn't price a b. smithi sling at $80 . Of course there are some dealers for whom i have utmost respect, but still.

let me mention however that Paul messed up completely, got caught, but i do hope he doesnt face a lot of prison time for this. Im sure the whole ordeal will prevent him from doing the same ever again. I mean honestly, worse crimes are committed and have gone unpunished.

 

[Hatr3d]

Money and passion don't go together, one has to screw the other, the difference is in which one you choose.

 

[dianedfisher]

Ok so if he got away with it - you wouldn't care? Just asking. Because either way - the dealers that are against this have their motive - the money that doesnt't go into their pockets.



He violated CITES by bringing in Brachypelma without CITES documents. As far as i know he wasn't called upon breaking Lacey Act. But I might be wrong.



More likely it wont change a thing about what the general public thinks of this hobby.

This is not what actually happened. Paul got caught, and the feds then took over his e-mail and used it to entrap Sven. Paul did not encourage Sven to break the law - the feds did using Paul's account. Paul did not invite Sven to the "guest appearance" - the feds did using Paul's e-mail account. Paul did not send Sven the airfare ticket - the feds did (posing as Paul). Paul has already acknowledged his guilt in this episode, but it's not fair to blame him for what the feds did using his e-mail account and name. He had no choice in that. If he had tipped Sven off that the feds were using his name and account to entrap him he would have been arrested and charged with an array of violations.

Maybe Paul will tell us how it really went down, now that he's into truth-telling. See you in Tucson.
Diane

 

[Bill S]

Maybe Paul will tell us how it really went down, now that he's into truth-telling. See you in Tucson.
Diane

I'm looking forward to seeing you in Tucson next month.

As for Paul and the "entrapment" issue, here's the direct quote from the court documents:

Beginning on April 9, 2009 and continuing for the following few months, SA Montouri took control of PB’s e-mail account and communicated with Mr. Koppler in a undercover capacity to place orders for spiders, and specifically ordering large amounts of the protected species of spiders. In November of 2010, SA Mountouri acting as PB, invited Mr. Koppler to come to the United States, all expenses paid, and to be a guest of honor for his pet shop opening. SA Mountouri still acting as PB suggests to Mr. Koppler to bring spiders on his person while traveling from Germany. Eventually, Mr. Koppler declines this request and no spiders were found on him when he was arrested, shortly after entering the United States. (See Exhibit “K,” E-mails
between PB and Sven Koppler).

SA Montouri is Special Agent Montouri, PB is Paul Becker.

---------- Post added at 07:22 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:17 AM ----------


Well said. This does seem to be mob mentality showing its ugly side. As has been pointed out, many of the people screaming and pointing fingers are less than innocent themselves. How many of you have shipped/received tarantulas through unauthorized means? But now we have someone to cast all our blames at. Will that make us less guilty? (I keep expecting to see a poster here claiming that PB turned them into a newt.)

---------- Post added at 07:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 AM ----------

Instead I'm going to step back and try to look at the root of the problem. It is all the ridiculous laws! It almost seems like people are missing the big picture. Cases like this will always occur unless we work towards reforming these. Now if we were to do away with the collecting and import laws a great responsibility would fall on YOU the hobbyist.

There is some truth to this. I'm not going to go so far as to suggest doing away with all the collecting and import laws, but more rational ones would be a good step. The laws used to bus Sven had nothing to do with protecting endangered species, even though that was the implied story. Sven was entrapped so that a few bureaucrats could make a score. I'm all for protecting endangered species, but this was a case of "revenuers" wanting a slice of the action and getting even with someone who evaded them. They tried to make their cause look more nobel by waving the "endangered species flag", and it appears that was enough to fool some of the people.

 

[Chris_Skeleton]

That's not entrapment.

 

[syndicate]

Ok All you Paul Becker supporters in here I really don't think you understand how this effects dealers and breeders here in the USA!This puts a huge hurting on dealers importing legally and also people who are investing large amounts of money into buying stock to breed as well.
Clearly I am not in this hobby for the money but I will tell you what.. Paul Becker definitely was!I recall a thread a couple months back where people ask who are the top breeders in the USA.To my surprise lots of people mentioned Paul haha!What has he even bred?Someone please tell me.
He has straight up Lied to everyone on this forum and cheated to get all his stock which has allowed him to undercut all the other dealers.The guy is completely shadey and if you can't see that I am sorry.
Oh and comparing using USPS to ship spiders inside the USA and smuggling 100's of spiders in from Europe is completely different!Everyone uses USPS LOL!I know for a fact there are even tons of post offices who knowingly ship tarantulas and don't even mind.You cannot compare these two things.
What Paul has been doing is breaking the law for one reason and one reason only.To make money.He wasn't trying to bring in all these new species for the hobby..Hes not your buddy,He doesn't care about all you people.Most people don't know it but he was around back in the day to.Wonder why he left the hobby the first time?
Think before you go defending someone like this...
-Chris

 

[Singapore_Blue1]

Ok All you Paul Becker supporters in here I really don't think you understand how this effects dealers and breeders here in the USA!This puts a huge hurting on dealers importing legally and also people who are investing large amounts of money into buying stock to breed as well.
Clearly I am not in this hobby for the money but I will tell you what.. Paul Becker definitely was!I recall a thread a couple months back where people ask who are the top breeders in the USA.To my surprise lots of people mentioned Paul haha!What has he even bred?Someone please tell me.
He has straight up Lied to everyone on this forum and cheated to get all his stock which has allowed him to undercut all the other dealers.The guy is completely shadey and if you can't see that I am sorry.
Oh and comparing using USPS to ship spiders inside the USA and smuggling 100's of spiders in from Europe is completely different!Everyone uses USPS LOL!I know for a fact there are even tons of post offices who knowingly ship tarantulas and don't even mind.You cannot compare these two things.
What Paul has been doing is breaking the law for one reason and one reason only.To make money.He wasn't trying to bring in all these new species for the hobby..Hes not your buddy,He doesn't care about all you people.Most people don't know it but he was around back in the day to.Wonder why he left the hobby the first time?
Think before you go defending someone like this...
-Chris

Chris,
I agree with you totally here on PB. I also agree that using the USPS is totally different and yes everyone and I mean practically everyone uses them. Now that being said...There may be several post offices that may not have a problem with shipping them near you, but the vast majority of them where I live have a serious problem with it. My father as stated earlier works for the USPS as a carrier and he asked around. He was told they are not to be shipped period. Remember everyone this is about the hobby not the money. Your in the hobby because you love being around these creatures, and you love to learn more about them..Captive breeding is so vital and we may just screw ourselves out of our own hobby due to greed..Put your spiders first! Think People.