A man who was caught multiple times attempting to import finches from Guyana into New York for birdsong competitions was sentenced to a year and a day in prison.
In January 2022, Insaf Ali, 62, was arrested at John F. Kennedy Airport with two packets of hair curlers, which smugglers use to get the small birds past customs inspectors.
It was Ali’s second sentencing in a federal court in Brooklyn for a crime related to bird trafficking, and he pledged it would be his last.
“I’m going to stay away from the birds,” he promised the court in a video submission.
Ali pleaded guilty this year to illegally importing wildlife.
He was earlier caught at JFK in 2018 with finch-stuffed hair curlers in his socks, according to officials.
He pled guilty to smuggling in that instance and was sentenced to two years probation and a $7,800 fine.
Prosecutors argued in a letter dated 31 January that Ali deserved “substantial” prison time, calling him “one of New York’s finch-smuggling kingpins”.
For generations, songbird competitions have been a popular sport in the Caribbean, with the birds being scored on qualities such as how many times they chirp or sing.
While the birds can fetch thousands of dollars, the competitions have fueled wildlife trafficking, which officials in Latin America and the United States have attempted to stop.
Finches are occasionally killed while being flown to the United States, packed into curlers, and hidden to avoid discovery.
Customs and Border Protection in the United States is also concerned that such smuggling could spread bird diseases.
Christine Delince, Ali’s counsel, requested mercy.
She stated that Ali is “extremely regretful” for a crime motivated by a boyhood love of seed finches that provided him peace after numerous personal troubles.
“His acts were not simply about money,” she wrote, noting the birds “are a part of him and a part of his culture”.