Man who smuggled live birds strapped to legs faces 20 years in prison

[Liberal_in_LA]

Man who smuggled live birds strapped to legs faces 20 years in prison
By Shelby Grad and Scott Glover

April 26, 2010 | 7:42 a.m.

A man who fastened live song birds to pieces of cloth around his calves during a plane trip from Vietnam to Los Angeles is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

Song Dong, 46, faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

He and another man were indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles last year.

Duc Le, 34, and Dong were charged in an eight-count indictment with conspiring to smuggle dozens of birds into the United States, including red-whiskered bulbuls, magpie robins and shama thrushes.

Both men were arrested after investigators determined that Dong had 14 birds fastened to pieces of cloth around his calves. A subsequent search revealed dozens more of the illicit birds, officials said.

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-me-0427-bird-smuggle-m,0,7829813.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fmostviewed+%28L.A.+Times+-+Most+Viewed+Stories%29

[Liberal Veteran]

1. LA takes smuggling illegal avians into the country more seriously than Arizona!

[TheDebbieDee]

2. I wonder which child molester, rapist or murderer will be

let out of prison early to make room for this eccentric monster!

[Codeine]

4. Wildlife smuggling is actually pretty horrible

and environmentally destructive.

[Liberal Veteran]

6. True. Remember the dreaded "Kudzu" thread in the Lounge?

[madinmaryland]

9. **snort**

You owe me a new keyboard!!

:spray:

[panzerfaust]

3. Too bad for him that he was not simply stealing billions from the taxpayers

Likely would not even be arrested.

[Codeine]

5. Allow me to be 14 years old for a moment.

Song Dong. :rofl:

[virgogal]

7. Animal cruelty. I hope they throw the book at him.

[Dogmudgeon]

8. "But, Ossifer, I was going to pay my doctor bill!"

Honest!

--d!

[Codeine]

10. AHAHAHAHA! Brilliant! nt

[CBR]

11. 20 years?!?!?! We sure have our sentencing priorities

screwed up in this country.

[pipi_k]

12. Just wondering how

authorities determined he had live birds strapped to his legs...

Did his pants start chirping?


I hope a couple of them used their sharp little beaks in some sensitive places.