Jeremy Stone

I read on your Facebook Jeremy that the US will not take confiscate anymore of your animals and also who ever you sold to will be able to keep those animals as well. But you didn't mention if you have any ownership in the Lucy project anymore. If you don't mind me asking are you still working the project. Im not here to pass judgement I'm just curious.

Any comment on the fake belly?
I understand that not guilty does not mean innocent. I also understand that the US Govt. can be less than up front and believable, but it was a foreign country that started all this, and the "facts" as they tell them seem pretty believable. I am sure you are eager to "move on," but when you google your name and smuggler comes up in the first several, if not dozen links, I do not think google is ever going to "move on."
I wish you luck moving foreward if you have done NOTHING wrong, and nothing to hurt this industry, but if even a small % of what they have alleged is true...

Dave

From CBSNews.com 6/17/15

U.S. repatriates seven snakes to Brazil by plane

One of the snakes recovered from a reptile collector and breeder in Utah who illegally transported the snake's mother, a rare white boa constrictor, from Brazil to the U.S.
Department of Justice


The Justice Department (DOJ) announced Wednesday that it has repatriated seven rare boa constrictors to the government of Brazil six years after their mother was brought to the U.S. in an illegal wildlife smuggling scheme.

In other words, DOJ sent Brazil a few snakes on a plane.

The snakes' mother was the only known living white (leucistic) boa constrictor. The exceedingly rare snake, known as "Lucy" or "Diamond Princess," was found in Rio de Janeiro in 2006 and transferred to the Niterói Zoo, a private foundation that rescued and rehabilitated injured wild animals. But in January 2009, Utah-based reptile collector, breeder and salesman Jeremy Stone traveled to Brazil, managed to secure possession of the snake and "unlawfully returned with it back to the United States," according to the Justice Department.

Stone wanted to breed Lucy. The white boa was expected to be able to spawn other leucistic boas, although because its white color is the result of a recessive gene, a white boa wouldn't occur among Lucy's immediate offspring but could be born in successive generations with the breeding of two snakes bearing the leucistic gene.

Stone did manage to breed Lucy, but when he began marketing the offspring - for $12,500-$25,000 (or ten to a hundred times the cost of other boas), according to National Geographic, the Brazilian government filed a petition asserting its ownership of the Diamond Princess and sought help from the U.S. in securing the return of the boa and its offspring. Federal investigators secured a warrant to seize the snake and any offspring from Stone' property in Utah. There, they found that Lucy had died. The eight snake offspring were turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service which took them to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.

Unfortunately, one of the snakes died in the zoo.


In July 2014, Stone pleaded guilty to unlawfully transporting federal wildlife into the U.S. As part of the guilty plea, he agreed to forfeit Lucy's offspring to the U.S., which asked the court to recognize Brazil's ownership claims. The court recognized those claims in February 2015.

"This case exhibited many of the hallmarks that make illegal wildlife trafficking a growing international scourge, including actors motivated by greed who illegally smuggled rare and precious wildlife across international boundaries," said DOJ Assistant Attorney General Caldwell. "The return of the precious snakes to Brazil brings to an end this years-long international saga, and serves as an example of our commitment to working with law enforcement partners in Brazil and elsewhere to combat transnational crime."

Are Boa Constrictors rare? They make it sound like this is a conservation issue which it is not, the people in Brasil probably just thought they could get money out of the snakes themselves... sounds like a lot of effort for something that's not worth worrying about, if not for Mr. Stone the snakes would have died without breeding most likely anyway.

There's no excuse for smuggling wildlife in my opinion.

So Jeremy Stone pleaded guilty to unlawfully transporting federal wildlife into the U.S. and turned over eight of the offspring of the original animal he smuggled into the US. Was THAT his only "punishment"? Aside from the 8 boas turned in, how many other babies weren't and how much money did Jeremy pocket from them? A litter of only 8 boas sounds awfully small for a BCC. If there were other siblings, who were they sold to and where are they now?
The CBSNews.com article posted above by gila7150 sys, "The eight snake offspring were turned over to the U.S. Marshals Service which took them to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. Am I supposed to believe that Jeremy has NO inside connection to the Hogle Zoo in his own home state? Oh, and one of the eight snakes conveniently died under the care of the zoo keepers, before they were able to send them back to Brasil? Sorry, I don't believe it for a second. Jeremy could have arranged a substitution of any dead (freshly killed) boa that looked like one from that lot, and nobody would know the difference. Jeremy could now have a 50% het stashed away somewhere for all we know. If a leucistic boa suddenly turns up again someday in the future, why will I NOT be surprised?
I hope Jeremy was heavily fined for his actions, but it seems like he just got a slap on the wrist. People like him should be banned from the reptile trade IMO. I also hope no one here would support him. I have in the past, but never again.

What do you want them to do, stone the guy.. no pun lol

Can someone please translate Jeremy's web page on "princess-diamond"? http://www.boaconstrictor.com/princess-diamond
Where does it say anything remotely true about the source of his project and what REALLY went down? Complete BS!

Originally Posted by snakesareawesome

What do you want them to do, stone the guy.. no pun lol

Well, if he was able to keep proceeds from the sale of any babies, or still has babies from that breeding stashed away, are you saying, that's cool and t's all good? If there's no deterrent to stop people like Jeremy from illegally smuggling animals, what makes you think Jeremy himself won't do it again? I personally think he will. but that's cool. It's all good!

Originally Posted by JCCS

If I'm not mistaken, he entered into a plea agreement. If so, all of his denials were complete bluffing on his part. Now this project has been renamed the "Fire" in an obvious attempt to separate them from Jeremy's animals.

So these are ads for descendants of the female that Jeremy smuggled into the US? Wouldn't the Brazilian government have a claim to them?
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=516649
http://www.faunaclassifieds.com/foru...d.php?t=533959