NJ man get house arrest for claiming exotic iguanas were ‘toys’
It’s six months home confinement and three years of probation for a Monmouth County man who admitted to trying to illegally ship a box of live rhinoceros iguanas to Asia.
Jason Ksepka, 44, of Farmingdale, previously pleaded guilty in Trenton federal court to one count of violating the Lacey Act.
He had been paid $500 to falsely label the international shipment of 10 reptiles as “toys,” with a fake name as sender — “Luke Jacobs,” according to U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger.
The iguanas were discovered by inspectors at John F. Kennedy International Airport in November 2017, before they were sent off to Hong Kong.
Ksepka said he had been paid $500 a year earlier, by the same person to do the same thing.
As part of his plea deal, he also must pay a fine of $1,000 to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Lacey Act Reward Fund.
Rhino iguanas are considered an endangered species by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, meaning that it’s at risk of becoming extinct in the wild.
