Florida Man Faces Jail Time After Pleading Guilty to Smuggling Dinosaur Bones
A Florida man pleaded guilty Dec. 27 to scheming to illegally import dinosaur fossils that had been smuggled out of Mongolia and China, said Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Between 2010 and 2012, Eric Prokopi, of Gainesville, Fla., acquired dinosaur fossils from foreign countries and unlawfully transported them to the U.S., misrepresenting the contents of shipments on customs forms, according to the plea, ICE alleged.
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As part of his plea agreement, Prokopi agreed to the forfeiture of a nearly complete Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton, which was looted from Mongolia and sold at auction in Manhattan for over $1 million, ICE said. Prokopi also agreed to forfeit a second nearly complete Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton, a Saurolophus skeleton, and an Oviraptor skeleton, all of which he possessed and were recently recovered by the government, it said. In addition, Prokopi will forfeit his interest in a third Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton believed to be in the U.K. All of the fossils originated in Mongolia. The skeleton of a Chinese flying dinosaur that Prokopi illegally imported has already been administratively forfeited, ICE said.
Tyrannosaurus bataar was a carnivorous dinosaur that lived during the late Cretaceous period, about 70 million years ago. The Saurolophus, which also lived during the late Cretaceous period, was a duckbilled, plant-eating dinosaur. The Oviraptor, of the same time period, featured a parrot-like skull.
According to ICE, Prokopi owned and ran a business out of his Florida home and is a self-described “commercial paleontologist.” He bought and sold whole and partial fossilized dinosaur skeletons, ICE said. Many of the fossils were unlawfully taken from Mongolia in violation of Mongolian laws declaring dinosaur fossils to be the property of the government of Mongolia, and criminalizing their export from the country, it said.
Aware that the dinosaur fossils had been removed from Mongolia illegally, Prokopi worked with others to bring these dinosaur fossils into the U.S., using false or misleading statements on customs forms about their identity, origin and value, ICE said. He then sold or attempted to sell the fossils. Earlier, in 2010, Prokopi illegally imported into the U.S. the fossilized remains of a small, flying dinosaur from China, by directing another individual to make false claims on import paperwork, ICE said.
Prokopi pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy on the Chinese flying dinosaur, one count of entry of goods by means of false statements for the Mongolian dinosaurs, and one count of interstate and foreign transportation of goods converted and taken by fraud, ICE said. He faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the conspiracy count, a maximum of two years on the entry of goods by means of false statements count, and a maximum of 10 years on the interstate transportation of goods converted and taken by fraud.
(See ITT's Online Archives 12101830 for summary of Prokopi's October arrest.)