Current:Home > BackWoman pleads guilty to trying to smuggle 29 turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak-LoTradeCoin
Woman pleads guilty to trying to smuggle 29 turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak
View Date:2024-12-23 23:43:26
BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A woman from China pleaded guilty on Friday to attempting to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles, a protected species, across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak.
Wan Yee Ng, 41, was arrested on the morning of June 28 at an Airbnb in Canaan as she was about to get into an inflatable kayak with a duffle bag on Lake Wallace, according to a Border Patrol agent’s affidavit filed in federal court.
Agents had been notified by Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two other people, including a man who was believed to be her husband, had started to paddle an inflatable watercraft from the Canadian side of the lake toward the United States, according to court documents.
The agents searched her heavy duffle bag and found 29 live eastern box turtles individually wrapped in socks, the affidavit states. Eastern box turtles are known to be sold on the Chinese black market for $1,000 each, the affidavit stated.
Her cellphone was seized, and a search by law enforcement found communications showing that she tried to smuggle the turtles into Canada so that they could eventually be sold for a profit in Hong Kong, according to the plea agreement. Ng, from Hong Kong, was living in Canada.
She pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of unlawfully attempting to export and send 29 eastern box turtles out of the United States, contrary to law. VTDigger first reported on the plea deal.
She is scheduled to be sentenced in December and faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
veryGood! (133)
Related
- US inflation may have picked up in October after months of easing
- New Hampshire gets its turn after Trump’s big win in Iowa puts new pressure on Haley and DeSantis
- Stock market today: Asian shares mostly fall after Wall Street drop
- Fake White House fire report is latest high-profile swatting attempt: What to know
- Officer injured at Ferguson protest shows improvement, transferred to rehab
- Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood and More Stars Check in to White Lotus Season 3
- Peregrine lunar lander to burn up in atmosphere in latest setback to NASA moon missions
- Patrick Schwarzenegger, Aimee Lou Wood and More Stars Check in to White Lotus Season 3
- Bitcoin has topped $87,000 for a new record high. What to know about crypto’s post-election rally
- How the world economy could react to escalation in the Middle East
Ranking
- Drone footage captures scope of damage, destruction from deadly Louisville explosion
- One of the world's most venomous snakes found hiding in boy's underwear drawer
- The Supreme Court declines to step into the fight over bathrooms for transgender students
- Amid scrutiny, Boeing promises more quality checks. But is it enough?
- A Pipeline Runs Through It
- Mike Tomlin plans to return to Steelers for 18th season as head coach, per report
- Google layoffs continue as tech company eliminates hundreds of jobs in ad sales team
- Saints fire longtime offensive coordinator Pete Carmichael, last member of Sean Payton regime
Recommendation
-
Watch a rescuer’s cat-like reflexes pluck a kitten from mid-air after a scary fall
-
Bills face more weather-related disruptions ahead AFC divisional playoff game vs. Chiefs
-
The Quantitative Trading Journey of Linton Quadros
-
Italy’s regulations on charities keep migrant rescue ships from the Mediterranean
-
Ariana Grande's Brunette Hair Transformation Is a Callback to Her Roots
-
Here are the 20 cities where home prices could see the biggest gains in 2024 — and where prices could fall
-
Kobe the husky dog digs a hole and saves a neighborhood from a gas leak catastrophe
-
Matthew Stafford's wife Kelly says her children cried when Lions fans booed her and husband