Brooklyn man charged with trying to sell endangered tortoise on Internet
By PAT MILTON
Associated Press Writer
December 23, 2004, 6:27 PM EST
NEW YORK -- A Brooklyn man was charged with trying to sell an endangered tortoise on the Internet for $18,000.
Jack Yang, 28, of Bay Ridge, was charged with violating the endangered-species law for trying to sell the tortoise to an undercover officer of the state Department of Environmental Conservation last Sept. 17, state Assistant Attorney General Hugh McLean said.
Yang, a part-time student, pleaded not guilty to a two-count indictment Thursday at his arraignment before Brooklyn state Supreme Court Justice John Walsh. He was ordered held on $25,000 bail.
Yang posted the rare radiated tortoise _ with yellow coloring and sunburst designs on its shell _ for sale on King Snake, a reptile and animal Web site, between Sept. 15 and 17, McLean said. The advertisement was spotted by an environmental officer, who then arranged to buy the tortoise at an apartment.
Yang was arrested when he allegedly tried to complete the sale.
State and federal permits are required to sell radiated tortoises, which originate from Madagascar, off the coast of Africa, and have been on the endangered-species list since 1970. A radiated tortoise is valued at between $2,000 and $3,000.
The unusual markings on the one Yang had increased its value to around $18,000, McLean said.
The 4-inch-long tortoise seized at Yang's arrest was placed in the reptile house at the Bronx Zoo.
State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, who brought the case, said: "This case illustrates the importance of enforcing the laws, especially those that protect endangered and threatened species."
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