TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — A Florida man has been sentenced to a year and a day in federal prison for buying parts of dead endangered animals. Court records show 36-year-old Steven Phillip Griffin II was sentenced last week in Tampa federal court.
He pleaded guilty in November to receiving and transporting endangered species in violation of the Endangered Species Act and for possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon.
According to the plea agreement, Griffin drove to Texas in May 2019, met with undercover agents and purchased two Southern White rhino horns, four elephant ivory tusks, one African lion skull and three leopard skulls for $9,750.
