Linh Luu and Kevin Le

Introduction

Linh Luu and Kevin Le, a husband and wife from Anaheim, California, pleaded guilty in federal court in Eugene, Oregon, to violating the Lacey Act, the country’s oldest wildlife-trafficking statute, and were each sentenced to three years of probation and a $10,000 fine for their roles in moving protected animal parts between Oregon and Vietnam. The Justice Department announced the pleas and sentences on October 23, 2026, in a case that traced rhinoceros horn segments, lion teeth and a tiger pelt into Oregon, and American black bear gallbladders and cougar bones out of it.

Background Information

Luu, 35, and Le, 45, are residents of Anaheim, California, according to wire coverage of the sentencing. Little else about their occupations or how they came into the trafficking network was included in the public record: the government’s release describes them only as a married couple who processed payments for a contact in Vietnam over a roughly two-year span.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

According to court documents and statements made in court, Luu and Le admitted that from September 2019 through May 2021 they processed $51,100 in payments to aid an individual in Vietnam in illegally moving wildlife items to and from Oregon. The parts shipped to Vietnam included American black bear gallbladders and cougar bones; the items brought into Oregon included lion teeth, segments of black and white rhinoceros horns, and a tiger pelt. Every species involved is listed under CITES, the treaty regulating trade in endangered wildlife, and none of the trade carried the required permits.

The scheme unraveled in a parking lot. In December 2020, the couple met an undercover federal agent and accepted $12,000 in cash as a down payment for part of a rhinoceros horn, while discussing ways to avoid U.S. banking regulations that could detect illicit transactions, according to the government’s sentencing submission. They later each received nearly $5,000 in electronic payments for the horn segment, which was shipped to Oregon disguised as a household decoration — a detail the New York Post’s California edition illustrated with the government’s own photo of the camouflaged horn. Prosecutors said the sale was discussed as a way to build trust for future, larger deals.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The pleas drew coverage across Oregon and Southern California outlets, with headlines emphasizing the surreal inventory — cougar bones, a tiger pelt, rhino horn hidden as a household good — moving through an Anaheim couple’s hands. The Justice Department’s announcement was made by Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson of the Environment and Natural Resources Division and U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford for the District of Oregon. The case is numbered 26-cr-00297 in U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, and the government’s sentencing memo included photographs of the trafficked tiger pelt and lion teeth.

Current Status

Luu and Le each pleaded guilty and were sentenced on the same day: three years of probation and a $10,000 fine apiece, with no prison time imposed. The couple admitted the conduct in court, so the factual record here is admitted rather than merely alleged. Black bears and cougars are native to Oregon and are prized by some for use in traditional Asian medicine, the government noted, while lions, tigers and both rhinoceros species are also protected under the Endangered Species Act.

Impact on Their Career/Life

A felony Lacey Act conviction on both spouses’ records, a $10,000 fine each and three years of court supervision is the outcome of a scheme the government says moved tens of thousands of dollars in protected animal parts. The case also feeds a wider enforcement push: the announcement cited the Homeland Security Task Force framework under which wildlife trafficking between the United States and Asia has been prosecuted with increasing frequency. For an Anaheim couple, the lasting consequence is federal convictions that permanently document them as traffickers in some of the world’s most protected animal products.

Sources

U.S. Department of Justice, “California Couple Sentenced for Trafficking Protected Wildlife,” October 23, 2026 — source
New York Post (California Post), “California couple trafficked lion teeth, rhino horn in illegal wildlife trading ring,” October 23, 2026 — source
KTVZ, “California Couple Sentenced to Trafficking Lion Teeth, Tiger Pelt and Rhino Horn,” October 23, 2026 — source