A Chinese national living in California has pleaded guilty to conspiring to smuggle hundreds of endangered and vulnerable turtles from the United States to China, according to federal prosecutors.
The Justice Department announced that 30-year-old Yuan Xie participated in a scheme with another Chinese national, Xiao Dong Qin, that would see 769 live turtles smuggled into China. The crime occurred between May 2017 and October 2018, court documents said.
