Travis Joseph Leger, Rickey Paul Simon, Jason Gene Leckelt, Wildlife Trafficking, Texas 2017

Three Men Plead Guilty to Trafficking Alligator Snapping Turtles in Texas

BEAUMONT, Texas – In a shocking turn of events, three men have pleaded guilty to illegally trafficking alligator snapping turtles in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today.

Travis Joseph Leger, 40, and Rickey Paul Simon, 57, both of Sulphur, Louisiana, and Jason Gene Leckelt, 36, of Wilburton, Oklahoma, have all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act by illegally trafficking alligator snapping turtles. Simon and Leckelt appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Keith Giblin on Aug. 17, 2017, while Leger entered his guilty plea before Judge Giblin on Aug. 21, 2017.

Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turtles in the world and can grow to weigh more than 200 pounds with a lifespan of more than 100 years. The turtles are designated as threatened with statewide extinction under Texas State Law, which strictly prohibits anyone from taking, capturing, transporting, or selling these turtles, or attempting to do so.

“Those who choose to exploit our precious wildlife resources threaten the existence of these rare reptiles,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston. “Protection of the turtles and the prevention of diseases that may spread by these actions make these prosecutions vital to the health of our natural wildlife.”

According to information presented in court, Leger, Leckelt, and Simon conspired to illegally take more than 60 large alligator snapping turtles during their multiple fishing trips to Texas in the spring and summer of 2016. The defendants transported the turtles back to a property in Sulphur, Louisiana, where they intended to sell them.

As part of his guilty plea, Leger admitted to selling a live, illegally taken, 171-pound turtle for $1,000 and another live, illegally taken, 168-pound turtle for $500 in May and June of 2016. Leger admitted that the market value of all the turtles that he caught illegally in Texas and then sold in Louisiana during the course of the conspiracy was between $40,000 and $95,000.

Rickey Paul Simon admitted that his role in the conspiracy included selling a 120-pound alligator snapping turtle, illegally caught in Texas, to an undercover U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agent in May of 2016. In addition, Simon admitted that he obstructed justice by deleting text messages from his cell phone prior to being interviewed by a Special Agent from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the execution of the search warrant at the Sulphur property in July 2016.

Jason Gene Leckelt admitted that the market value of the turtles that he illegally personally caught in Texas and sold in Louisiana during the course of the conspiracy was between $15,000 and $40,000.

Defendant Information:

Travis Joseph Leger, 40, of Sulphur, Louisiana

Charge: Conspiracy to Violate the Lacey Act

Date: Aug. 21, 2017

Sentence: Guilty Plea

Rickey Paul Simon, 57, of Sulphur, Louisiana

Charge: Conspiracy to Violate the Lacey Act

Date: Aug. 17, 2017

Sentence: Guilty Plea

Jason Gene Leckelt, 36, of Wilburton, Oklahoma

Charge: Conspiracy to Violate the Lacey Act

Date: Aug. 17, 2017

Sentence: Guilty Plea

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edtx/pr/three-guilty-threatening-east-texas-alligator-snapping-turtles