Florida man pleads guilty to smuggling thousands of turtles overseas

Video above: Young girl raises money for sea turtles

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — A Florida man pleaded guilty to smuggling thousands of turtles to Germany and Hong Kong and falsifying documents to conceal his crimes, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.

John Michael Kreatsoulas, 36, of Alva, Florida, sold the wildlife through his business Omni Reptiles Inc., which is an unregistered business of domestic and international wholesale trade of wildlife.

According to the DOJ, Kreatsoulas sold the wildlife, including protected species, to customers in the United States and overseas in Germany and Hong Kong.

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Kreatsoulas and his co-conspirators would collect and capture various species of turtles, including three-stripe mud turtles and Florida mud turtles.

He would falsify U.S. Fish and Wildlife forms to state that the turtles were “captive-bred and not wild-caught.” Kreatsoulas would then ship the wildlife through the Miami International Airport. According to officials, he ran the scheme from July 2015 until July 2021.

Kreatsoulas pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to traffic wildlife and nine counts of falsifying records, violating the Lacey Act, which prohibits the trafficking of illegally taken wildlife, fish, or plants.

According to the DOJ, he is facing a maximum of five years in prison for each count. His sentencing is set for May 17.

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