BROOKLYN, New York — A federal judge has handed down one of the largest-ever fines under the Endangered Species Act, ordering a Georgia doctor to pay $900,000 for illegally trafficking thousands of rare birds and eggs into the United States, federal officials announced Thursday.
Dr. John Waldrop, 74, of Cataula, Georgia, was also sentenced to three years of probation for his role in a sprawling international smuggling operation that amassed more than 1,400 taxidermy bird mounts and more than 2,500 eggs — many from endangered or protected species, prosecutors say.
His co-defendant, Toney Jones of Eufala, Alabama, received six months of probation, the announcement said.
The sentence handed down in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York ends a yearslong investigation known as Operation Final Flight, which officials said uncovered the largest seizure of mounted birds in U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service history, the announcement said.
Waldrop pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to smuggle wildlife and several violations of the Endangered Species Act. Jones pleaded guilty to a lesser ESA charge.
Among the items in Waldrop’s collection included three eggs from the endangered Nordmann’s Greenshank — a rare Asian shorebird with fewer than 1,600 left in the wild, the announcement said. No North American museum is known to have eggs of that species, it also said.
“Waldrop’s gigantic and rare bird collection was bolstered in part by illegal imports, where he and his enlisted co-conspirators intentionally avoided permit and declaration requirements,” Acting Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division, said.
Between 2016 and 2020, Waldrop got birds and eggs from sellers in Germany, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Russia, South Africa, the United Kingdom and Uruguay, federal prosecutors said. After several packages were intercepted at U.S. ports, Waldrop recruited Jones to receive them and mask the true buyer. Jones also funneled more than $500,000 into a bank account Waldrop used to make further purchases, the announcement said.
When federal agents raided Waldrop’s property, they found the collection which included four eagles protected under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act; 179 bird and 193 eggs species protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act; 212 bird and 32 egg species listed under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
USFWS Assistant Director Douglas Ault called this case “one of the largest bird trafficking cases in history,” warning that illegal wildlife trade has severe consequences.
“We will remain vigilant and continue to hold accountable those who exploit our shared natural resources for personal gain,” Ault said in a statement.
Waldrop forfeited the whole collection and is in the custody of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which will work to return as many of the items as possible to scientific or educational institutions, the announcement said.
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Kaylee Remington is a trending news and metro reporter for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer. Read her work online.