Day

May 16, 2014

Coffee heir fined $15,000 for keeping protected birds at Coconut Grove House

A lifelong fascination with birds landed coffee heir Jose E. Souto in federal court this month after wildlife agents seized 34 wild birds, including nine increasingly rare rainbow-colored finches, from a backyard aviary at his Coconut Grove home. Souto, 71, whose family business once supplied 80 percent of the espresso sold in the United States, pleaded guilty March 18 to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and was ordered to pay $15,000, the maximum fine, and serve one month of probation.