U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that LAWRENCE TREIGLE, age 33, of Covington, pleaded guilty today to a one-count Superseding Bill of Information charging him with conspiring to smuggle turtles out of the United States and to violation of the Lacey Act.
According to the Superseding Bill of Information, TREIGLE was part of a group of individuals involved in capturing North American Wood turtles from the wild in Pennsylvania, shipping the turtles by mail though the United States, and then illegally exporting the turtles to Hong Kong.
TREIGLE faces a maximum term of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release following any term of imprisonment. U.S. District Judge Helen G. Berrigan scheduled sentencing for March 11, 2015.
U.S. Attorney Polite praised the work of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Homeland Security Investigations, and the United States Postal Inspection Service in investigating this matter. Assistant United States Attorney David Haller is in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
