2 men admit trafficking whale teeth

The former director of a whaling museum and an antiques dealer pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally importing hundreds of sperm whale teeth from England and selling them to U.S. merchants.

Lewis Eisenberg, 61, the former director of The Whalers Village Museum in Lahaina, Hawaii, bought many of the teeth and resold them to collectors of scrimshaw, an art form in which designs are etched into whale bone. Eisenberg, of Oak Harbor, Wash., sold teeth he got from antiques trader Martin Schneider for more than $45,000.

Schneider, 60, of Blue Bell, Pa., got the teeth of the endangered whale in Britain and smuggled them into the country by hiding them among other goods he was importing. Prosecutors said he sold a total of $500,000 worth of teeth from 1995 to 2005.

Both pleaded guilty to violations of the Endangered Species Act, the Mammal Protection Act and the Lacey Act, which forbids the import or export of wildlife that is illegally transported or sold.

Authorities said the arrests came as part of a nationwide investigation, but that many of the collectors who bought the teeth have not been found.

Schneider's attorney, Gerald Stein, said his client believed the teeth came from whales that were killed by Russian fishermen before the Endangered Species Act became law.

"He thought that these teeth were acquired at a time when it was legal to acquire them," Stein said.

An attorney for Eisenberg, Daniel-Paul Alva, said his client used bad judgment.

"He was silly," Alva said. "He knew it was wrong."

Both attorneys said they were hoping their clients would be sentenced to probation, not prison. Under federal guidelines, prosecutors said Schneider will likely get 30 to 37 months in prison, while Eisenberg is likely to get 10 to 16 months. Both face thousands of dollars in fines.

Wildlife smuggling is a multibillion-dollar illegal industry. Federal officials describe it as the second-largest black market, behind only narcotics.

(This version CORRECTS Schneider and Eisenberg's ages.)