A Middletown man pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to trafficking protected turtles.
David Sommers, 62, of Middletown’s Levittown section, struck a plea agreement with federal prosecutors and pleaded guilty to one felony count of violating the Lacey Act and agreed to forfeit nearly 3,500 diamondback terrapin hatchlings, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
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Prosecutors said Sommers admitted that he falsely labeled and trafficked turtles taken from their New Jersey marsh habitat between August 2014 and October 2017. He acknowledged sending a package containing 11 terrapin hatchlings to Canada and mislabeling the package as a book to under report its value.
Officials from Environment and Climate Change Canada intercepted the package of turtles and alerted American authorities.
Sommers’ sentencing will take place on May 15. The 62 years old could be sentenced to as many as five years behind bars, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and restitution to New Jersey for the value of the turtles.
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Prosecutors said other related charges will be dropped against Sommers at sentencing.
“Diamondback terrapins (Malaclemys terrapin) are a semi-aquatic species of turtle native to brackish waters in eastern and southern United States. They are not found in the wild in Pennsylvania, where Sommers resided, but have a dwindling habitat range in neighboring New Jersey. The terrapins are prized in the reptile pet trade for their unique, diamond-shaped shell markings. The turtles are protected under New Jersey law and by an international treaty, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
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Authorities said the diamondback terrapin has been listed as threatened since 2013. In New Jersey, collection, possessing, and transporting terrapins has been banned since 2016.
Sommers has worked with numerous Republican candidates in Bucks County in recent years and previously was a reporter. He previously covered news for The Trentonian, Bucks County Courier Times, and launched the ahead-of-its-time online Bucks News Network. He reported on about a dozen articles for LevittownNow.com between 2013 and 2014.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service worked the case with assistance from the New Jersey Division of Fish and Wildlife.
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