A Louisiana man was sentenced to two months in federal prison for smuggling more than 200 gaffs into the U.S. through Hawai'i.

Joseph Marty Toralba was arrested at the Honolulu airport on Feb. 2 as he was returning from an international cockfighting derby in the Philippines.

U.S. district judge David A. Ezra sentenced Toralba to 60 days in prison, one year of probation, and fined him $1,000.

Authorities said customs officers found 263 gaffs — sharp knives that are tied to the birds' legs — hidden with portable gas stoves in cardboard boxes Toralba had checked in on the plane.

"I think Judge Ezra's sentence sends a strong message to Mr. Toralba and the community that the importation of gaffs will not be tolerated," said assistant U.S. attorney Darren W. K. Ching.

Toralba was the first person in Hawai'i to be prosecuted under the Animal Fighting Prohibition Enforcement Act of 2007.

The act made illegal the transportation of fighting animals across international or state lines.

It also made the transportation of any fighting instrument used by birds for cockfighting a 3-year felony.