Cat’s out of the bag.
A Brooklyn man was busted selling a taxidermied cougar head and other exotic animal parts to an undercover police officer — violating wildlife conservation law, authorities said.
Usher Weiss, 26, pleaded guilty Thursday to hawking the big cat’s noggin for $900 in the basement of a building in Borough Park on the night of Nov. 2, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
During the wild deal, Weiss also offered the officer a cheetah head for $10,000 then brought it to a second sale, along with a taxidermied bird and seal on Dec. 5, according to prosecutors.
After he was arrested, Weiss coughed up several other illegal animal parts he’d bought online — including an elephant foot, a full alligator and a tiger skin.
“We’re committed to stopping the illegal wildlife trade in our communities, and by prosecuting cases like this, we’re not just enforcing the law — we’re sending a strong message that protecting endangered species from harm is a priority,” Gonzalez said in a press release.
Weiss, of Borough Park, bought the bizarre trophies on websites such as Craigslist and OfferUp, authorities said. He handed them over to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in April.
Weiss was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine and to surrender additional critter parts under the conditions of his plea deal.
“My client was just a collector who got in a little over his head — no pun intended,” said Cary London, a lawyer who represented Weiss. “He’s happy to put this behind him.”
On Thursday, he pleaded guilty to violating state environmental conservation laws in front of Brooklyn Criminal Court Judge Dale Fong-Frederick.
-Additional reporting by Priscilla DeGregory
