Vintner pleads guilty to wildlife trafficking
He should have stuck to vino.
A Napa Valley entrepreneur and vintner pleaded guilty in federal court to charges he illegally trafficked in parts of endangered whales and sea turtles.
Ma(i)sonry tastingroom proprietor and art curator Michael Polenske, who runs Blackbird Vineyards in Napa, entered guilty pleas in U.S. District Court in San Francisco Tuesday to conspiracy to traffic wildlife and wildlife trafficking, both misdemeanors, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Polenske is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 13.
Scott said his client has agreed to pay a $60,000 fine. While he could face jail time, his lawyer hopes he’ll be granted probation.
“My client did not appreciate the laws” prohibiting the trafficking of certain wildlife, said his attorney McGregor Scott. “He now fully understands and appreciates the realities of those laws. He has been extremely cooperative with the government throughout this process and accepts full responsibility for what happened.”
Polenske, 53, admitted that in November 2006, he sent an e-mail instructing Hedley’s Humpers, the London shipping company that he hired, “lets not use the word shell use ‘oval shaped’ ” and “w[e] should say ‘abstract’ wood sculpture instead of Whale Vertebrae,” court records show.
Polenske’s e-mail further instructed the company to avoid references to “any kind of animal, shell, tortoise, vertebrae ... as these get flagged by fish and game inspectors. ... Otherwise we are not allowed to bring this type of stuff in without special permit — if at all,” court records show.
Between 2006 and 2014, Hedley’s Humpers illegally shipped for Polenske 26 protected wildlife items to the U.S. under false labels, with a collective market value of about $81,000, authorities said. One package that contained two sea turtle shells was marked as containing a leather armchair, authorities said. The company was placed on three years’ of probation and paid a $75,000 fine.
The investigation by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration began in 2011, when an auction website showed that Ma(i)sonry, located in Yountville, was offering for sale 12 whale vertebrae, two Orca whale jawbones and a sea turtle shell, Nicholas Call, a special agent with the agency’s office of law enforcement wrote in a court affidavit.
All whale parts are protected under the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and sea turtles are protected under the Endangered Species Act.
Polenske and Ma(i)sonry had not obtained import permits, authorities said, and investigators discovered that a shipment sent from France to Polenske had previously been seized in Alameda, Call wrote.
“The shipment contained several undeclared, unpermitted wildlife articles — seven turtle carapaces (the upper part of the shell), five Tridacna (giant clam) half shells and two stuffed bird mounts,” Call wrote, referring to the earlier seizure.
It was unclear if action was taken against Polenske and Ma(i)sonry in the case.
Posing as collectors, undercover agents paid $4,025 in cash for the Orca jaws from Ma(i)sonry in 2011, Call wrote.
An agent later bought two whale vertebrae from Ma(i)sonry for $1,928, authorities said.
During the investigation, agents determined that Polenske bought wildlife and other items from vendors in Belgium and France and exported them in shipping containers using an international shipping company, Call wrote.