Trafficking sperm whale parts costs SC man $15k, lands him on house arrest – Post and Courier

Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low around 60F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%..
Cloudy with occasional showers overnight. Low around 60F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 40%.
Updated: October 26, 2025 @ 7:03 pm
A contractor pleaded guilty in Charleston’s federal courthouse (above) to defrauding a U.S. Small Business Administration loan program. File/Staff

Mitchell Black writes about Bluffton and the southern Lowcountry for The Post and Courier’s Beaufort County bureau. He previously covered health care and county government with the Asheville Citizen Times.
A contractor pleaded guilty in Charleston’s federal courthouse (above) to defrauding a U.S. Small Business Administration loan program. File/Staff
BEAUFORT — A St. Helena Island man was fined $15,000 for illegally trafficking sperm whale parts.
Lauren Deloach, 69, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge David Norton to pay the fine into a fund used to support wildlife protection cases. He also will serve 30 days of home confinement and two years probation. Deloach pleaded guilty in April.
“Lauren made a mistake and took full accountability for it, and he regrets his actions,” his attorney, Nathan Williams, said in an email.
Investigators learned that Deloach illegally imported, sold and possessed sperm whale teeth and bones over a three year period, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Columbia.
Deloach falsely labeled shipments with these products as “plastic” in order to avoid law enforcement detection. To make their case, prosecutors provided the court with two sperm whale teeth and one ear bone.
Deloach imported sperm whale parts to the Palmetto State from Australia, Latvia, Norway and Ukraine. He sold at least 85 items on eBay worth more than $18,000. Agents seized roughly $20,000 worth of sperm whale parts during a search.
Sperm whales are found in deep oceans around the globe, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. After long dives into the water, these animals will come to the surface to breathe before initiating their next plunge.
Commercial whaling from 1800 to the 1980s decreased the population worldwide. The International Whaling Commission placed a moratorium on the practice in 1986.

Mitchell Black writes about Bluffton and the southern Lowcountry for The Post and Courier’s Beaufort County bureau. He previously covered health care and county government with the Asheville Citizen Times.
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