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17 Sept 2025
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17 Sept 2025
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John Slattery enjoying his freedom on his return from America to west Limerick
A LIMERICK man extradited to America in a private Gulfstream business jet in May is now back home and enjoying his freedom.
The US authorities sought John Slattery, aged 31, from Rathkeale, to face charges of illegal wildlife trafficking in relation to the sale and transport of horns from endangered wild black and white rhinoceroses.
On July 7, he pleaded guilty in a court in Waco, Texas to conspiring to traffic in horns from black rhinoceros.
Slattery was flown to the Lone Star State on the private jet on May 23 at a cost of €200,000 to the American government.
He was sentenced to 12 months in prison by the American judicial system. However, as he had spent nine months on remand in Cloverhill he was released after three months.
The Irish Sun newspaper printed photographs of Slattery’s arrival in Dublin Airport on Thursday, August 27. He was welcomed by members of his family. Slattery then returned to Rathkeale.
He has since been spotted celebrating his return in a number of locations in West Limerick, including pictured in the photo received by the Limerick Leader above. Slattery is wearing a navy tracksuit top with the "Boss" logo on it.
According to The Irish Sun, Slattery was identified as a member of the Rathkeale Rovers, a global rhino horn theft and smuggling mob, by investigators working on Operation Oakleaf.
Slattery was convicted of buying the horns from a taxidermy shop in Austin, Texas, before they were sold in New York for $50,000.
The Rathkeale man spent the three months at the Federal Medical Centre in Fort Worth, Texas, which according to The Irish Sun was hit by a coronavirus outbreak earlier this year.
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