Second Songbird Smuggler Arraigned Tuesday: 90 Birds Dead

GARDEN GROVE, CA — An Orange County man is expected to plead guilty Tuesday to his role in a scheme to smuggle endangered "good luck" songbirds into Los Angeles from Vietnam.

Sony Dong, 55, admitted in his plea deal that for several years, he helped provide financial backing for a co-conspirator to travel to Vietnam and smuggle back the colorful birds, which are at risk of extinction and protected under the federal Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Dong is scheduled to plead guilty in Los Angeles to a federal conspiracy count, which carries a possible maximum penalty of up to five years in prison.

The Garden Grove resident was arrested in December at Los Angeles International Airport while awaiting the arrival of co-conspirator Quang Truong's China Airlines flight from Vietnam, according to court papers.

Truong, 45, of Westminster had been arrested five months earlier by Vietnamese officials on suspicion of attempting to smuggle songbirds, prosecutors said.

When airport screeners at LAX checked Truong's luggage following the 8,000-mile journey on Dec. 3, they found more than two-dozen birds in two suitcases modified to include cages, according to court documents.

The tiny Chinese hwamei songbird -- which reportedly cost a few dollars apiece in Southeast Asia -- fetch up to $500 when sold illegally at certain Chinese markets in Southern California and are thought to bring good luck.

Dong previously served four months behind bars after pleading guilty in 2009 to federal charges of illegally importing wildlife, court papers show.

Truong, who also faces charges in Los Angeles, previously entered a guilty plea, but the status of his case and the count to which he pleaded are not available to the public.

Read also: OC Smuggler Found With 90 Dead Songbirds Pleads Guilty

Photo: Vincent van Zalinge, Unplash