Mosaic tile importer Akua Mosaics and its president, Kenneth Fleming, pleaded guilty on March 19 to conspiring to smuggle Chinese-made porcelain mosaic tiles into the U.S., the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Puerto Rico announced.

Generic drugmaker KVK Research pleaded guilty last week to charges that it "introduced adulterated drugs into interstate commerce" in violation of the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, agreeing to pay $1.5 million in fines and forfeiture, DOJ announced.

Arthur "Jack" Schubarth, a Montana rancher, pleaded guilty March 12 to conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and to violating the Lacey Act by illegally importing wildlife from Kyrgyzstan, DOJ announced. Schubarth worked for nearly a decade as part of a scheme to "create giant sheep hybrids" in the U.S. with the goal of selling them to "captive hunting facilities," DOJ said. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for each count and a fine of up to $250,000.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of March 4-10:

Former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was found guilty March 8 of conspiring to import cocaine into the U.S. and of gun-related offenses, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on March 7 said that importer RKW Klerks' net wraps products, used in a machine to bale harvested crops, are not "parts" of harvesting machinery under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule. Judges Richard Taranto, Raymond Chen and Tiffany Cunningham thus sided with CBP's classification of the products as "warp knit fabric," dutiable at 10% under HTS subheading 6005.39.00.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 26 - March 3:

Marcus Nussbaum settled an attorney misconduct proceeding before the Federal Maritime Commission earlier this month, agreeing not to practice before the FMC for one year. If Nussbaum tries to practice before the commission before the one-year period or violates the settlement agreement, the FMC said it may "re-institute" the misconduct proceeding.

The following lawsuits were filed at the Court of International Trade during the week of Feb. 19-25:

The Court of International Trade on Feb. 26 issued an amended decision in a customs case on the tariff classification of five categories of chrome-plated plastic automobile parts after initially deciding the case Dec. 18. The new decision adds a discussion of axle covers, the fifth category of goods, finding them to fall under Harmonized Tariff Schedule heading 8708 pursuant to General Rule of Interpretation 1.