A Poplar Bluff man will have to pay more than $85,000 in fines and restitution after pleading guilty to failing to disclose a large purchase of ginseng.
United States District Judge Stephen R. Clark fined Thomas Ridenhower, 57, of Poplar Bluff $55,000 for violating the federal Lacey Act by not disclosing a $28,750 purchase of ginseng. Ridenhower also will have $32,503.76 to pay in restitution and was sentenced to five years probation.
The Lacey Act makes it illegal to import, export, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate commerce any plant that is taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of state law. Ridenhower pleaded guilty in March to violating the act.
By pleading guilty, Ridenhower admitted that he was a commercial buyer of ginseng in Reynolds County, operating under the name of Midwest Herb. Commercial buyers of ginseng in Missouri must truthfully complete a Missouri Ginseng Quarterly Report in which he or she discloses the amount of ginseng purchased from other persons.
Ridenhower admitted that he failed to properly record a $28,750 purchase of ginseng from another person on the quarterly reporting form and that he intended to export the purchased ginseng in interstate and foreign commerce.
Ridenhower’s intent to export the unreported ginseng was a violation of the federal Lacey Act, which makes it illegal to submit any false record of any plant that is intended to be transported in interstate or foreign commerce.
As part of his offense conduct, Ridenhower agreed the amount of restitution he should pay the state of Missouri was $32,503.76, which he will owe in addition to the restitution amount.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife and the Missouri Department of Conservation investigated this case, while Assistant United States Attorney Keith D. Sorrell handled the prosecution for the government.