An ex-Mountie from New Brunswick has been sentenced in Maine to five years and two months behind bars after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a narwhal tusk smuggling scheme.
A U.S. district court judge has sentenced 59-year-old Gregory Logan of Saint John, a retired RCMP officer, to 62 months in prison for 10 money laundering offences. He plead guilty to those charges last September and had been extradited to the U.S. from Canada in March of last year.
The indictment says Logan smuggled over 250 tusks from narwhals, which are medium-sized whales with long, spiralled ivory tusks that can grow over 8 feet long, into the U.S. between 2000 and 2010. It also states that Logan took the tusks across the border using false compartments in his vehicle and trailer, and, as part of the plea agreement, Logan agreed the market value of the turks in this case was between $1.5-million to $3-million.
The U.S. Department of Justice says narwhals are a protected species in the U.S. and internationally.
