The Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural
Resources Division, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern
District of Texas, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that
four men have been charged for their involvement in the illegal trafficking of
alligator snapping turtles.
Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater
turtles in the world and can grow to weigh more than 200 pounds with a lifespan
of more than 100 years. The turtles are designated as threatened with statewide
extinction under Texas state law which strictly prohibits anyone from taking,
capturing, transporting, or selling these turtles, or attempting to do so.
In one indictment, Travis Leger and Rickey Simon, both of
Sulphur, Louisiana, and Jason Leckelt of Wilburton, Oklahoma, are charged with
conspiracy and Lacey Act violations for illegally taking about 66 alligator
snapping turtles in Texas and then transporting them back to their property in
Sulphur, Louisiana, for sale in the Spring and Summer of 2016. In July 2016,
federal agents seized 30 large alligator snapping turtles from ponds located at
the defendants’ property in Sulphur, Louisiana, pursuant to a federal search
warrant. The indictment also charges Leger with making a false statement to
federal agents and charges Rickey Simon with destroying evidence during the
execution of the federal warrant. In a separate indictment, Montaro Williams of
Elton, Louisiana, is charged with a Lacey Act violation for illegally taking
two alligator snapping turtles in Texas and then attempting to transport them
to Louisiana for sale on Aug. 12, 2013.
Leger was arrested today in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and
made his initial appearance in federal court there. Simon, Leckelt, and
Williams were arrested earlier this month.
An indictment is an allegation based upon a finding of
probable cause by a federal grand jury, and all defendants are presumed
innocent until proven guilty. If convicted, the defendants face up to five
years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the conspiracy, Lacey Act, and false
statement charges and up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the
destruction of evidence charge.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph E. Batte of the Eastern
District of Texas and Senior Trial Attorney David P. Kehoe of the Department of
Justice, Environmental Crimes Section, prosecuted the case. The case is being
investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the Louisiana Department of
Wildlife and Fisheries, and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
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