Jonathan Sampson Benson, from Arizona, has been convicted and fined for violating the Lacey Act, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Benson pleaded guilty on three counts of Lacey Act violations.
The court ordered Benson to serve five years of probation and pay $2,225 restitution to the Lacey Act Reward Account and $2,500 to the Arizona Game and Fish Wildlife Theft Prevention Fund. Benson was also ordered to forfeit all wildlife to the government, which includes two Gila monsters, two prairie rattlesnakes, two tiger rattlesnakes, one speckled rattlesnake, one Hopi rattlesnake and one Arizona black rattlesnake.
The Lacey Act prohibits people from importing, exporting, transporting, selling, receiving, acquiring or purchasing any fish or wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of any law, treaty or regulation of the United States or in violation of any tribal law.
Benson pleaded guilty to taking reptiles from Arizona and selling them in South Carolina. In November 2013, Benson sold two falsely labeled Gila monsters, two prairie rattlesnakes, two tiger rattlesnakes, and one speckled rattlesnake in interstate commerce. Benson was also charged with making a similar transaction in July 2014.