WASHINGTON — A Middleburg, Virginia shopkeeper who sold items including a flask made from crocodile skin, a box made from sea turtle shell and a duster made from ostrich feathers has been sentenced to 30 days behind bars for selling products made from endangered species.
Keith Foster, 60, a well-respected golf architect, also ran the Outpost antique shop in Middleburg as a charity, and donated the profits.
In December, Foster pleaded guilty to selling endangered species illegally imported into the United States in federal court as part of a plea arrangement.
Friday, during a sentencing hearing, lawyers for Foster asked he be spared time behind bars, noting he had already paid $275,000 in restitution and forfeited illegally imported items.
“There is no doubt that Mr. Foster made a series of mistakes that took place over a long period of time for which he must be fairly sentenced,” wrote attorney Edward McMahon.
However, prosecutors pointed to a 2017 telephone call Foster had with a customer in which he admitted he should not be importing sawfish blades.
“In truth, I shouldn’t be bringing them in … Fish and Wildlife (Service), if they opened up that and found it … they would confiscate my whole container,” Foster said. “I’m gonna bring more in — cause I’m the only fool in the States that probably wants to risk it.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Gordon Kromberg said Foster’s crimes were serious and happened more than once.
“It was not the result of single bad decision in a moment of weakness, but encompassed hundreds of discrete decisions to violate the law over a five-year period,” Kromberg wrote. “It was not the result of a need to feed his family, but of hubris and thrill-seeking.”
Federal judge Leonie Brinkema sentenced Foster to 30 days.
