Man Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Ivory Tusks
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A Hollywood businessman pleaded guilty Monday to smuggling 180 pounds of contraband African ivory tusks in a shipment of chairs from Nigeria.
Ebrima Marigo, 36, faces 15 to 21 months in prison when he is sentenced in January by U.S. District Judge Robert M. Takasugi.
Assistant U.S. Atty. William Carter said customs inspectors at Los Angeles International Airport had the chairs X-rayed on a hunch that they might contain cocaine. Instead, he said, they found sections of ivory concealed inside the chairs’ hollow wooden frames.
Marigo, a Liberian native, was arrested in April after he claimed the chairs and transported them to his store on Lexington Avenue, which sold African artifacts.
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