A Chinese man faces up to five years in prison for trying to smuggle protected turtles worth more than $1 million from the United States to Hong Kong.
Wei Qiang Lin, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty on Monday in a federal district court in New York to exporting more than 220 parcels containing around 850 eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles.
The Justice Department said the live turtles had been wrapped in socks for the weeks-long journey and the boxes with the reptiles had been labeled as containing "plastic animal toys."
The turtles, which had a market value of $1.4 million, were intercepted by law enforcement at a border inspection, it said.
Law enforcement officers "observed them bound and taped inside knotted socks within the shipping boxes," federal prosecutors said in a statement.
Eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles feature colorful markings and are a "prized feature in the domestic and foreign pet market, particularly in China and Hong Kong," the Justice Department said in a statement.
It said they are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Lin also allegedly exported 11 other parcels filled with reptiles, including venomous snakes, the Justice Department said.
Sentencing was set for December 23. Lin faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
Last October, a woman from China pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak.
Jamie Lee Curtis: The 60 Minutes Interview
Comments