U.S. Attorney Kenneth A. Polite announced that LAWRENCE TREIGLE, age 33, from Covington, was sentenced today after pleading guilty to a one-count Bill of Information charging him with conspiring to smuggle turtles out of the United States in violation of the Lacey Act.
According to court documents, on Dec. 3, 2014, TREIGLE pled guilty to the superseding Bill of Information. TREIGLE admitted he 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.
U.S. District Court Judge Helen G. Berrigan sentenced TREIGLE to a term of 15 months imprisonment, to be followed by two years of supervised release.
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 was in charge of the prosecution.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
