LOS ANGELES, Jan. 20 (UPI) -- A German man who mailed hundreds of live tarantulas to the United States pleaded guilty in Los Angeles to a federal animal-smuggling charge.
Sven Koppler, 37, of Wachtberg, Germany, confessed Monday he shipped 247 live tarantulas to Los Angeles federal agents who posed as purchasers during a 10-month "Operation Spiderman" investigation, the Los Angeles Times reported.
Koppler also mailed the agents 22 live Mexican red-kneed tarantulas, an internationally protected species.
Koppler made $300,000 selling spiders to people around the world.
Koppler's sentencing is scheduled for April 1. He faces a 20-year maximum term.
One of Koppler's shipments contained almost 250 live tarantulas, including the Mexican ones, encased in plastic straws.
