Zebra Skins Importer Guilty of Giving False Statement : Trial: A federal jury acquitted a South African national accused of illegally importing and selling nine pelts.

A South African national accused of illegally importing nine skins from a threatened species of zebra with the intent to unlawfully peddle them in Orange County was acquitted by a federal court jury Thursday of importing and selling the skins, but found guilty of making a false statement to a government official.

Although the prosecution presented evidence that Wallace Charles Venter, 37, allegedly sold one of the skins to an undercover agent of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the jury was not convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that Venter “sold a threatened species knowing that it was illegal to do so,” said Assistant U.S. Atty. John S. Wiley Jr.

“He (Venter) said that there was no intention of selling (the skins) and that they would remain at a friend’s house,” said Wiley, who tried the case in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles.

Venter’s intentions were at issue in the case because while it is illegal under federal law to import a threatened species for commercial use, import is permitted for personal and non-commercial use. “The jury apparently believed the defendant’s claim that he really didn’t know (the sale) was illegal,” Wiley said.

The prosecution charged that Venter placed two classified ads in the Orange County Register offering to sell hides of the threatened Hartmann’s Mountain Zebra for up to $1,900. Venter was arrested in September after he allegedly sold one of the skins to the undercover agent.

Venter’s attorney, Morton H. Boren, could not be reached for comment Thursday. He contended in an interview Wednesday that Venter, who leads safari tours in South Africa, did not sell the skin but was merely using it as collateral while he arranged the sale of other, legally imported skins. Venter thought that transaction was legal, Boren said.

But the jury was convinced that Venter knew what he was doing when he sent a notarized letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service saying that the skins had been purchased overseas by a man named Richard Sidowski, Wiley said. Prosecutors could not locate Sidowski for verification.

“The Fish and Wildlife Service inquired as to what the skins were really going to be used for,” Wiley said. “They needed a letter of explanation, and the defendant wrote and signed and notarized a letter saying he had no intention of selling the skins and that the skins would go to the house of Mr. Sidowski. The jury found that to be a false statement.”

Venter faces up to five years in prison, up to a $10,000 fine, or both, for making the false statement, Wiley said. U.S. District Court Judge William D. Keller set bail at $25,000 pending sentencing, but he could order Venter held in custody if he determines that Venter might flee the country. A sentencing date was not immediately set.