Tokosh Sentenced - Federal Wildlife Officers Association

PA Man Sentenced in ESA Sales Case


	United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan announced today, June 2, 2006, that John P. Tokosh, a resident of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced in federal court in Pittsburgh to 12 months imprisonment and ordered to pay $25,000 in restitution to the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission on his conviction of trafficking in illegally transported wildlife. United States District Judge Thomas M. Hardiman imposed the sentence on Tokosh, age 43, of R.R. 2, Box 83C, Greensburg, Pennsylvania. According to information presented to the court by Assistant United States Attorney Luke E. Dembosky, Tokosh, at different times in 2002, 2003 and 2004, engaged in the sale and purchase of wildlife that had been imported or smuggled into the United States in violation of federal law. The wildlife at issue included Indian Star and Burmese Star Tortoises, which have a retail value of as much as $1,500 each. Tokosh also collected hundreds of Pennsylvania Wood Turtles from the wild and sold them illegally for profit.