Months after he was charged with attempting to smuggle nearly three dozen live finches from Guyana through the JFK Airport to sell for use in high-stakes bird-singing competitions, a Guyanese man on Thursday admitted to the crime.
A New York Post report said that Francis Gurahoo pleaded guilty in a Brooklyn federal court to trying to smuggle 34 live finches stuffed inside plastic hair rollers
“Gurahoo pleaded guilty to a smuggling charge before Magistrate Judge Robert Levy,” the report said.
“I have a family,” Gurahoo was quoted as telling the judge.
Gurahoo, of Connecticut, was arrested in June last year after he flew into the airport aboard Caribbean Airlines flight BW 526 from Georgetown, Guyana.
He was subsequently arraigned on a charge of unlawful wildlife smuggling and released after his uncle and cousin posted his US$25,000 bond.
A judge had subsequently ordered that Gurahoo’s passport be taken away and restricted his travel to only New York City and Connecticut.
The report stated that following his arrest, Gurahoo admitted to US Customs and Border Patrol agents that he planned to sell the birds for $3,000 each, which would have made him about $102,000, court papers state.
“I failed to report them,” Gurahoo said to Levy, reading from a written statement, the New York Post report said.
“Instead I tried to sneak them into” the Eastern District of New York, it added.
Under federal sentencing guidelines, the New York post said that Gurahoo could be sent to prison for from two years to 33 months.
It further stated that Brooklyn federal Judge Margo Brodie, who presides over Gurahoo case, still has to sign off on his guilty plea. “She could sentence him to less time than recommended under the guideline or give him probation,” the report stated.
Gurahoo declined to comment after the hearing.
The feds, according to the report, said Gurahoo planned on selling the birds for use in high-stakes bird singing competitions held in Brooklyn and Queens, and that the Carrie Underwoods of these avian “American Idol” contests can sell for thousands.
“The birds he brought into this country are not illegal,” attorney Eric Pack said.
The New York Post report explained that birds are pitted against each other to see which can get to 50 tweets first or how many chirps they can belt out within a minute.
“The contests attract bettors and winning finches can be sold for up to $5,000, according to court papers,” the report said.
The New York Post reported that a US Fish and Wildlife agent wrote in court papers that the competitions fuelled a black market for Guyanese birds, which are “believed to sing better” than their American cousins and “are therefore more highly sought after”.
