From 2011 to 2012, New York City resident Joel Rakower allegedly smuggled 40,000 of the amazonian fish. Rakower pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn for smuggling in the illegal fish into the United States. The federal Lacey Act prohibits the trafficking of foreign wildlife, fish, and plants into our country. Rakower admitted he purchased the fish from a Chinese company that supplies tropical fish. He claimed that he instructed the supplier to label the packaging lists incorrectly, claiming them to be silver tetras, a common aquarium fish. Rakower smuggled 39,548 piranhas over the course of 2011 and 2012, swimming up costs of approximately $37,376, according to the statement. Rakower agreed to pay more than $70,000 in fines, and his company will serve a two-year period of probation. Rakower will be sentenced on April 24.
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