St. Louis man admits smuggling endangered wildlife, dozens of taxidermy birds from Europe – KRCG

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by Regan Mertz
A man from St. Louis County admitted to smuggling endangered wildlife and taxidermy birds into the United States from Malta, England, Germany and elsewhere on Tuesday.

Michael Amato, 68, pleaded guilty to a felony charge of fraudulently importing protected wildlife. He also agreed to give up more than 70 taxidermy bird mounts that were seized from his home in September 2021, that included owls, buzzards, hawks, eagles, harriers and cranes.
As a part of his plea, Amato admitted that he and his associates smuggled the wildlife into the United States from Europe and other countries without declaring the animals and without obtaining required permits from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
From February 2018 to September 2020, Amato smuggled 67 different types of birds. Some of these birds are threatened with extinction, and some could become threatened if their trade is not regulated.
Amato also told his international associated how to fill out the export and import forms and how to list the wildlife to avoid law enforcement detection.
Amato is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 8, 2023, and in addition to three years of probation, he will have to donate $5,000 to the World Bird Sanctuary. This represents a portion of the market value of the protected wildlife that was taken from his home.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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