Hacienda Heights Man Among Six Charged with Selling Wild Animal Parts

Six Southland residents, including a Hacienda Heights man, were charged today with peddling endangered species and animal parts, including pelts taken from wild cats, through Craigslist and other online auction sites.

The allegations contained in five criminal cases filed in Los Angeles federal court stem from an investigation coordinated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and involve investigators and prosecutors across the United States and in three Southeast Asian countries.

As part of Operation Wild Web, undercover agents posing as buyers focused on endangered or protected wildlife, as well as invasive species that threaten the native fish of the United States, federal prosecutors said.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, the six defendants charged with violations of federal environmental laws are:

-- Hanna Karim, 44, and his wife, Margarita Licomitros, 36, both of Huntington Beach, accused of selling a Sumatran Tiger skin for $8,000 after the item was advertised on Craigslist. Tigers are critically endangered throughout the world, with estimates that there are less than 500 Sumatran tigers remaining in the wild;

-- Rene De La Peza, 42, of Hacienda Heights, accused of selling a jaguar skin for $15,000 after advertising the item on Craigslist. Jaguars, the largest cat found in the Americas, have been listed as endangered for 40 years.

-- Michael Roy McIntire, 59, of Encino, accused of selling three migratory bird mounts in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918. All migratory birds -- such as the birds involved in this case: a canvasback, a cinnamon teal and a mallard -- are protected under treaties between the United States, Russia, Canada and Mexico.

-- Rodrigo Macedo, 29, of Hesperia, accused selling two Western Scrub Jays in violation of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; and

-- Lewis Keister, 42, a resident of the Hancock Park and the owner of East Meets West Antiques on La Brea Avenue, charged with illegally trafficking wildlife for allegedly selling a pair of seal fur moccasins for $750 last August. The complaint affidavit also alleges that he sold three Native American dolls, one said to be made of whale bone, and three bags, one made of seal fur, to an undercover agent last December.

All six defendants are expected to make their initial federal court appearance on Aug. 8. 

---City News Service