Two Men Convicted of Conspiring to Smuggle Wildlife into the United States from Australia

Miami, Florida – Two men pled guilty to willfully and knowingly conspiring to acquire, sell, transport, and import three species of spiny-tailed skinks into the United States from Australia in violation of federal regulations.

Jose Francesco Munoz Di Rocco, of Miami, Florida, and Francisco Manuel Rodriguez, of Medford, Oregon, pled guilty to the charge in Miami.  In connection with their guilty plea, Munoz and Rodriguez admitted that they traveled from their respective hometowns in the United States and met up in Broome, Western Australia for the purpose of capturing spiny-tailed skinks in their native habitat and importing them into the United States for resale.  Once in Western Australia, Munoz and Rodriguez captured various species of spiny-tailed skinks and prepared them for shipping to the United States, knowing it was illegal to export the wildlife from Australia.  While in Australia, Munoz mailed two packages containing a total of 33 spiny-tailed skinks, one to Miami, Florida and the other to Medford, Oregon.  In order to conceal the illegally imported wildlife, Munoz packaged the spiny-tailed skinks within gift-wrapped containers with other souvenirs and neither Rodriguez nor Munoz declared them on the Customs Declaration forms attached to the shipping boxes or via a Declaration for Importation or Exportation of Fish and Wildlife (Form 3-177) with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.  Australian law prohibits the exportation of its native wildlife.  

Rodriguez’s sentencing has been set on February 4, 2022 at 3 p.m. and Munoz’s sentencing has been set on February 23, 2022 at 2 p.m. before District Court Judge Kathleen M. Williams.  Rodriguez and Munoz face a possible prison sentence of up to five years in jail, a term of supervised release thereafter of up to three years, and a criminal fine of up to $250,000.

U.S. Attorney Juan Antonio Gonzalez of the Southern District of Florida and Special Agent in Charge Stephen Clark of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS), Southeast Region made the announcement.

USFWS investigated the case with assistance of the Australian Border Force.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Marty Fulgueira Elfenbein of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-20361.

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