South Korean National Sentenced for Trying to Illegally Export Calif. Wild Succulent Plants

Byungsu Kim, a South Korean national, was sentenced to 24 months in prison for trying to illegally export live Dudleya succulent plants worth over $150,000 to Asia from California, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California said Jan. 20. Kim and his co-conspirators removed the plants from the ground at different state parks in Northern California. Kim also has to pay $3,985 in restitution for the expense of replanting the illegally taken plants after his arrest, the judge ordered.