Claremont doughnut shop owner pleads guilty to smuggling ivory

Pictured: Ivory seized from Chau's doughnut shop in Claremont (photo courtesy U.S. Attorney's Office).

LOS ANGELES -- A Claremont doughnut shop owner has pleaded guilty to charges that he illegally purchased ivory from endangered African elephants on eBay.

Moun Chau, 50, will face up to five years in federal prison and up to $250,000 in fines when he is sentenced Oct. 18 in Los Angeles federal court.

Chau, who owns Pixie Donuts in Claremont and lives in Montclair, pleaded guilty April 8 to one count of importing ivory in part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors.

Federal prosecutors accused Chau of conspiring with a seller in Thailand between May and November 2006 to import endangered African elephant tusks.

Chau allegedly purchased ivory though eBay, a popular auction website, from Samark Chokchoyma, who would allegedly ship the goods to Chau in disguised packages, including one shipment that Chokchoyma described in a customs declaration as a gift containing toys.

Chau imported about about $2,750 worth of ivory in the course of the conspiracy, prosecutors allege. Chokchoyma has been arrested in Thailand in connection with the alleged scheme and faces criminal charges there.

A woman working at the doughnut shop told a reporter today that Chau wasn't there, and Chau did not respond to a request for comment. The doughnut maker has been free on $5,000 bail since his March arraignment.

In exchange for Chau's guilty plea, federal prosecutors have agreed to drop a conspiracy charge against him, as well as recommend leniency in his sentencing, according to the plea agreement filed March 24.