Summary David Hausman also was fined $28,000 in federal court for breaking laws.
NEW YORK: A New York City antiques dealer has been sentenced to six months in prison after admitting he illegally bought some rhinoceros horns.
David Hausman also was fined $28,000 in federal court on Thursday for breaking laws intended to protect endangered black rhinos.
The 67-year-old Manhattan resident said in pleading guilty last summer that he knew the horns needed to be over 100 years old to be a legal sale. He admitted he double-crossed the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service by first offering to help fight illegal sales of rhinoceros horns, then buying some himself. Hausman was arrested in a nationwide crackdown on the black market trade.
Authorities say persistent demand for rhino horn carvings, considered good luck charms or health enhancers in some cultures, has devastated the world s rhino population.
