Opinion ID: 692069
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Facts Relating to the Alabama Red-bellied Turtles

Text: 9 During the July 28, 1990, conversation at his house in which Guthrie and the undercover agent discussed alligator snapping turtles, Guthrie also asked if the agent could provide him with Alabama red-bellied turtles. The Alabama red-bellied turtle is listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species Act. Guthrie told the agent where to find such turtles and how to identify them, and said he would pay five dollars for small turtles and twenty-five dollars for large female ones. Explaining that he bought Alabama red-bellied turtles and their eggs from a collector, Guthrie boasted that he already had 800 turtles and eggs in incubation. Guthrie described his plan to buy up the remaining wild population of Alabama red-bellied turtles, then apply for a government grant to reintroduce the Alabama red-bellied turtle into the wild from his own private stock. This conversation led undercover agents to include the Alabama red-bellied turtle in their investigation of Guthrie and his cohorts. 10 On August 16, 1990, agents met with Guthrie and a man named Steven Stroupe in Alabama and sold Guthrie and Stroupe three Alabama red-bellied turtles. The agents covertly made a videotape on this occasion of Guthrie giving advice on capturing Alabama red-bellied turtles and on evading the Game and Fish officials. Guthrie told the agents what would happen if officials caught them with either Alabama red-bellied turtles or alligator snapping turtles in their possession. 11 An undercover agent telephoned Guthrie again on September 11, 1990. The agent claimed to have captured several turtles, including two Alabama red-bellied turtles. Guthrie arranged to meet with the agent the next day in south Alabama. On September 12, 1990, the agent met with Stroupe and Guthrie and sold Guthrie a turtle that an endangered species biologist had identified as an Alabama red-bellied turtle. Guthrie again was covertly videotaped as he described his long-term goal of eradicating Alabama red-bellied turtles in the wild. He explained that the government knew that he had obtained an unidentified number of Alabama red-bellied turtles before the turtle was added to the endangered species list; Guthrie could legally possess those original turtles. He told the agent that as long as the Fish and Wildlife Service did not discover that he had been illegally adding to his collection, he could hope to make $25,000 by helping the government restock Alabama red-bellied turtles in the wild: If they ... decide to start releasing them, where can they get captive-raised turtles? They can't buy them from me either, but they can pay me a grant to raise them.