Press Release
WEST PALM BEACH MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF SEA TURTLE EGGS
August 25, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jeffrey H. Sloman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Eddie McKissick, Senior Resident Agent, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, announced that Bruce Wayne Bivins, 52, of West Palm Beach, FL, pled guilty today before U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks to Count 1of a federal Criminal Information, charging him with unlawfully possessing and transporting sea turtle eggs, in violation of the Endangered Species Act, 16 U.S.C. 1538, and the Lacey Act, 16 U.S.C. 3372. Sea turtle eggs are protected under federal law as a threatened species.
Sentencing has been scheduled for November 9, 2009 at 10:30 AM. Bivins faces a maximum penalty of up to five years in prison, and up to three years of supervised release.
According to documents previously filed with the court and statements made during the plea hearing, 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. After the police officer identified himself and asked Bivins to stop, Bivins took off running. The officer watched as Bivins ran toward the waterline of the Intercoastal Waterway and saw Bivins throw down the bag he was carrying. Bivins then came back toward the officer and surrendered.
The bag was recovered shortly thereafter and searched by police. Inside were 119 Loggerhead 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.
Mr. Sloman 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 U.S. Attorney Lauren Jorgensen.
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.
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