Lilburn Man Sentenced in Illegal Elephant Ivory Case

An Atlanta piano import/export company and its Lilburn CEO were sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court for illegally shipping internationally protected elephant ivory.

According to a media release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Atlanta, Pascal Vieillard, 49, of Lilburn was sentenced to three years probation and fined $17,500. Vieillard is the Chief Executive Officer of A-440 Pianos, Inc., which also was ordered to pay a $17,500 fine, according to the release. Additionally, the company was given three years of probation, “with the condition that all pianos imported by A-440 Pianos are brought through the Port of Atlanta.”

The sentences were ordered by U.S. District Judge Richard W. Story.

According to U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates in a prepared statement, “A-440 Pianos and its CEO deliberately violated laws that govern the importation of elephant ivory. … Our message to commercial enterprises is clear: this office will prosecute violations of laws that were designed to promote the viability of endangered species.”

In November, Vieillard and his company pleaded guilty to charges — the company to one felony count of smuggling elephant ivory into the U.S., and Vieillard to one misdemeanor count of illegally importing pianos that contained elephant ivory, in violation of the Lacey Act, passed in 1900 to help states enforce wildlife laws.

According to Quillian Yates, a piano shipment imported by 440-Pianos in 2009 was found to have elephant ivory keys by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Customs inspectors.