TAMPA, Fla. — A federal judge in Tampa sentenced a Spring Hill man to 15 months in prison for trafficking different species of turtles to other states for them to be sold internationally.
Kevin Olbrych, 48, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to two counts of Lacey Act trafficking over charges that he had been illegally selling Florida box turtles, loggerhead musk turtles and ornate diamondback terrapins to a co-conspirator in Oregon, who would then sell them to buyers in China, according to a news release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
The discovery of 120 turtles was made in 2018 while officers from the Tampa Police Department executed an unrelated search warrant on Olbrych's house. Investigators said there were several 300-gallon pools on the property filled with turtles, in addition to multiple other containers for breeding the animals.
Olbrych did not have a license to legally own the animals.
The Tampa Police Department confiscated the turtles and worked with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to find the animals a qualified caretaker to rehabilitate them.
Even after the turtles were seized, prosecutors said Olbrych continued to traffic turtles through 2021.
Olbrych was sentenced to an additional 3 years of probation after his release from prison. He is also permanently banned from having or transferring any animals and was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine toward the Lacey Act Reward Fund, which goes towards caring for animals in trafficking cases and paying witnesses in animal trafficking investigations.
