MADISON, WIS. -- Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Markos Diderrich, 28, La Crosse, Wisconsin, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge William Conley to 44 days in jail, with time served, followed by a three-year term of supervised release, and a fine of $2,000. The judge ordered Diderrich to pay the fine to the Lacey Act Reward Fund. Diderrich pleaded guilty on June 1, 2018, to a felony Lacey Act violation of knowingly transporting illegally taken wildlife across state lines.
In imposing sentence, Judge Conley noted that Diderrich took four Blandings turtles, which are a threatened species, from the Weaver Dunes nesting site in Minnesota on May 29, 2016, and brought them to his home in La Crosse, where he illegally trafficked the turtles with a commercial reptile dealer located in Tampa, Florida.
The charges against Diderrich were investigated by agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. The prosecution of this case was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Graber.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
