Andriy Mikhalyov, who has spent the past nine months in a federal prison, was sentenced to time served, as part of a plea agreement in which he acknowledged his role in smuggling large amounts of the ivory teeth into the United States.

Importing sperm whale ivory was banned by the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. Mikhalyov was charged with conspiring with a commercial scrimshaw artist from Nantucket, who was convicted last year in US District Court of six felony counts of smuggling wildlife, one count of conspiracy to smuggle wildlife, and two counts of lying to federal agents. Mikhalyov, who advertised the teeth online, allegedly earned thousands of dollars from selling the sperm whale ivory between 2002 and 2005.

The artist who has yet to be sentenced, earned thousands of dollars for some of his etchings and had been commissioned to carve the presidential seal into whale teeth for presidents George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush.

Mikhalyov has said he didn't know it was illegal when he began selling whale teeth about a decade ago and states no whales were harmed as a result of his sales and that all of the teeth had come from the former Soviet Union's whaling trade and were bought in Odessa. Mikhalyov will not be allowed to re-enter the United States for 10 years and will be deported from Boston in the next few days.