An eastern Kentucky man has been sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for illegally selling Eastern Box Turtles.
According to prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky, 59-year-old Christopher Cool, of McKee (Jackson Co.), was sentenced after pleading guilty to one count of violating the Lacey Act.
(The Lacey Act makes it unlawful to commercialize and sell wildlife, in interstate commerce, if you know or should have known that the wildlife was taken, possessed, transported, or sold in a manner that is unlawful under the law or regulation of any state, the United States or a foreign country.)
According to Cool’s plea agreement, in July 2020, the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service discovered that Cool had 246 Eastern Box Turtles at his residence, which he was intending to sell and ship to individuals outside of Kentucky.
The commercialization and sale of these turtles is prohibited by Kentucky statue and regulation. Without a permit, a person is only allowed to possess five or fewer turtles for personal use.
Further investigation revealed that between July 2019 and July 2020, Cool sold 669 Eastern Box Turtles, which had been taken from the wild in Kentucky. Cool received an average of $100 per turtle, prosecutors said.
In June 2021, U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents received reports from Pennsylvania and West Virginia wildlife officers indicating that Cool was selling and trafficking turtles in interstate commerce. According to information received by federal authorities, Cool was seen with over 125 Eastern Box Turtles while traveling through West Virginia. At the time, Cool admitted to others that he was bringing the turtles from Kentucky and was being paid $200 per turtle by out of state purchasers, according to prosecutors.
Cool was arrested in McKee on September 15, 2021. He pled guilty to violating the Lacey Act in November 2021.
Under federal law, Cool must serve 85 percent of his sentence.
Cool, in 2019, was convicted in Madison County for possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine), according to the Kentucky Department of Corrections.
By Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
