Beaufort man pleads guilty to illegally purchasing green sea turtle head
A 62-year-old Beaufort man has pleaded guilty to illegally importing and purchasing the head of a protected sea turtle species.
John Trask III signed a plea agreement Monday in Beaufort’s division of South Carolina federal court. He admitted to a misdemeanor violation of the Lacey Act, the country’s oldest environmental protection law.
Court documents said around Sept. 30, 2023, Trask knowingly imported or exported the head of a green sea turtle, which is prohibited from commercial trade under the Endangered Species Act.
If Trask complies with the court’s orders, according to his plea agreement, prosecutors agree that an appropriate punishment is 12 months of probation and a $10,000 fine. It was unclear when his sentencing would take place.
The document also says Trask agrees to “voluntarily surrender” the “sea turtle head mount” and six “Turkish items” recovered by law enforcement on Sept. 16.
As of October, green sea turtles were no longer considered endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Instead, they’ve been reclassified as a “species of least concern.”
Still, the species is listed in Appendix I of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, which means it is “threatened with extinction” and requires bans on commercial trade.
The plea comes several months after another Beaufort man was sentenced for illegally trafficking endangered sperm whale bones and teeth. The local artist and fossil hunter had imported the parts from countries including Australia, Norway, Ukraine and Latvia.
