OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A major reptile neglect case has concluded with a Florida man pleading guilty to felony animal cruelty, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) said Friday.
Kelvin E. Soto, a former holder of a license to exhibit and sell reptiles, entered a guilty plea on Aug. 14. The FWC said officers began their investigation in November 2023 after Soto stopped paying for a storage unit in Osceola County.
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The unit was locked up and it was only when company employees began preparing the unit for auction that they discovered the devastating scene inside.
According to the FWC, there were 111 African fat-tailed geckos housed in individual containers inside the storage unit. Forty-one of the geckos were already dead. Photos provided by the FWC showed the skeletal remains of some of the reptiles.
(Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
(Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
Investigators said the containers were filthy and none of the geckos had food or water. Officials later determined that no one had visited the storage unit for more than two months.
A warrant was issued for Soto’s arrest after detectives linked him to the crime. He was located in Virginia and arrested by local authorities before eventually being brought back to Florida for prosecution.
The FWC said Soto admitted guilt this week after entering a plea agreement. His sentence includes four years of supervised probation, 100 hours of community service, and restitution of more than $5,000 to the facility that cared for the surviving reptiles during the nearly two-year prosecution.
Soto is also prohibited from possessing or having contact with animals and was ordered to forfeit the remaining geckos in his care.
“This case is a powerful example of the work our Captive Wildlife Investigators do every day,” said Maj. John Wilke, FWC Captive Wildlife Section Leader. “Their dedication, thoroughness and persistence ensured accountability for the mistreatment of these animals and justice for the ones that survived.”
Anyone who is aware of a wildlife violation is asked to report it by calling the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922) or submitting a tip online at MyFWC.com/WildlifeAlert.
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