Nantucket man faces smuggling charges
Accused of helping traffic in protected ivory, whale teeth
A Nantucket scrimshaw dealer and a Ukrainian citizen were charged yesterday in federal court with participating in a scheme to smuggle sperm whale teeth and elephant ivory into the United States in violation of an international treaty and a federal law that protect endangered species.
Charles A. Manghis, 53, was arrested at his home in Nantucket by federal agents yesterday morning. He appeared before US Magistrate Judge Timothy S. Hillman in Boston later in the day on charges of multiple counts of smuggling whale teeth and elephant ivory, making false statements to federal agents, and conspiracy.
He was released on a $25,000 secured bond.
His lawyer, identified by prosecutors late yesterday as John J. Regan of Peabody, could not be reached for comment.
Also indicted by a federal grand jury was Andriy Mikhalyov, no age given, of Odessa, Ukraine.
He was charged with conspiring with Manghis and others to import sperm whale ivory from Ukraine through California to Massachusetts.
He remains in Ukraine, and no further details were available, said Christina DiIorio-Sterling, a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan.
From 2002 to 2005, the indictment alleges, both men conspired to smuggle the items into the country in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and of federal law. The men used a middleman in Yreka, Calif., who was not identified, the indictment said.
If convicted, Manghis faces as much as 20 years imprisonment on the most serious charges and fines of as much as $250,000, according to federal prosecutors. Mikhalyov faces up to five years imprisonment and the same maximum fine.
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