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Articles Master falconer bound for prison Published in the Times Herald-Record, January 27, 2006 By Wayne A. Hall White Plains - Saying master falconer Thomas Cullen of Goshen needed to
be taught a lesson because "he thinks himself above the law," U.S. District
Court Judge Colleen McMahon sentenced him yesterday to four months in
federal prison. Cullen was found guilty Sept. 29 of scheming to import African black
sparrow hawks by getting a friend in England to ship them to the states as
the friend's pets. In fact, they were going to Cullen. It is the first known prosecution under the Wild Bird Conservation Act of
1992, prosecutors said. The act forbids importing wild birds except as pets
but says the pet birds can be bred. Jurors also convicted Cullen of making false statements to investigators.
Cullen's lawyer, Peter Ginsberg, insisted Cullen never intended to break
any laws or lie to investigators and that his record as a passionate
environmentalist should weigh heavily. The judge praised Cullen's "good work" and didn't buy prosecutors' claim
that Cullen was in the crime for money. But she also said Cullen's
supercharged passion for the environment got him in trouble. Incarceration was called for, said McMahon, because Cullen "thinks he
doesn't have to obey the law or live by it - because he's the bird man!" She said she was also swayed to send him to prison because he lied about
his crime, "and there's a hard, fast rule in my house - you don't lie." Cullen was scheduled to report to prison June 1. The judge gave him the
spring breeding season to tend to his birds and said she would recommend the
Federal Correctional Institution at Otisville since it's close to his Goshen
home. Cullen was also sentenced to a $1,000 fine and three years supervised
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