Skip to content
Photo of a young sperm whale. Sperm whales have a low birth rate and are classified as an "endangered" species. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration photo.

Mass. antique dealer sentenced to prison for importing whale teeth

Catherine Saunders-Watson
Catherine Saunders-Watson
Photo of a young sperm whale. Sperm whales have a low birth rate and are classified as an "endangered" species. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration photo.
Photo of a young sperm whale. Sperm whales have a low birth rate and are classified as an "endangered" species. U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration photo.

BOSTON (AP) – A federal judge has sentenced a Nantucket antique dealer to nearly three years in prison for illegally importing and trafficking in sperm whale teeth and narwhal tusks worth up to $400,000.

Authorities says David Place was sentenced Tuesday to 33 months in prison after a federal jury in Boston convicted him of eight counts, including conspiracy and violating a federal law that prohibits trading in illegally captured wildlife.

Prosecutors said the owner of Manor House Antiques Cooperative in Nantucket, Mass., committed the violations from 2001 to 2004.

One of his co-conspirators, Andrei Mikhalyov of Odessa, Ukraine, served a nine-month prison sentence in the U.S. and was then deported to his country.

Sperm whales are classified as “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act.

The narwhal, a whale with a long spiral tusk, is listed as “threatened.”

Copyright 2011 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

# # #