Press Release
POSSESSION OF ILLEGALLY TAKEN SEA TURTLE EGGS
May 27, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Eddie McKissick, Senior Resident Agent, United States Fish & Wildlife Service, announced that Bruce Wayne Bivins, 52, of West Palm Beach, Florida, made his initial appearance in court today on federal charges that he unlawfully possessed sea turtle eggs, in violation of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1538, and unlawfully transported the sea turtle eggs, in violation of the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. 3372.
According to the criminal complaint filed against him on May 22, 2009, Bivins was stopped by a Town of Palm Beach police officer just after 1:00 a.m. on May 8, 2009, after he was seen carrying a dark bag near the waters of the Intercoastal Waterway in Palm Beach. After the police officer identified himself and asked Bivins to stop, Bivins ran away. The officer watched as Bivins ran toward the waterline of the Intercoastal Waterway and watched as Bivins threw down the bag he was carrying. Bivins then came back toward the officer and surrendered.
The bag was found shortly thereafter and searched by police. Inside were 119 sea turtle eggs. Officers observed that about half of the eggs were covered in sand, and the other half were not covered in sand, indicating that they may have been collected from a female sea turtle while she was laying the eggs and before they touched the sand in her nest. Officers also noted that Bivins had beach sand on his shoes and his elbows similar to the beach sand on the turtle eggs.
The sea turtle eggs are protected under Federal law as a threatened species. Although an exact market value for the eggs is difficult to ascertain because they are illegal contraband, it is estimated that the sea turtle eggs were worth more than $350 on the black market.
The U. S. Attorney commended the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the Town of Palm Beach Police Department and the Florida Wildlife Conservation Commission for their work in the case. This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lauren Jorgensen in the West Palm Beach U. S. Attorney's Office.
Attachments:
Complaint (PDF)
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at http://www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Technical comments about this website can be e-mailed to the Webmaster. PLEASE NOTE: The United States Attorney's Office does not respond to non-technical inquiries made to this website. If you wish to make a request for information, you may contact our office at 305-961-9001, or you may send a written inquiry to the United States Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida, 99 NE 4th Street, Miami, Fl. 33132.