Fossil retailer pleads guilty to smuggling
JACKSON – Fossil smuggling to Jackson Hole may have just gone extinct.
A fossil retailer who owns the "By Nature Gallery" stores in Jackson and Beaver Creek, Colo. pleaded guilty yesterday to smuggling millions of dollars worth of dinosaur bones and other fossils into the U.S. from China and Mongolia. According to a release, both China and Mongolia have extensive "cultural patrimony laws" that protect prehistoric fossils.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Wyoming announced the guilty plea following an investigation involving several federal agencies.
John Richard Rolater, 69, agreed as part of his plea deal to surrender all contraband vertebrate fossils he has, including a saber-toothed cat skull; a pterodactyl-like feilongus fossil; an anchiornis huxleyi fossil – a chicken-sized dinosaur which some say shows the evolutionary pedigree of birds; and a darwinopterus – a pterosaur named after Charles Darwin.
During the investigation, Homeland Security Investigations seized millions of dollars worth of fossils, including the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar – closely related to the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex – valued at nearly $1.9 million. The skull originated in Mongolia, and was the cause for the investigation that started in June 2012 after a phone tip. However, when another T. bataar skull was seized in New York, the skull in Rolater's store disappeared. A search warrant was issued to HSI agents, who found the skull stashed in the store director's closet at a residence rented from Rolater.
Other big-ticket seizures included a $173,000 micro-raptor, a $100,000 protoceratops – akin to triceratops – and a $100,000 gallimimus skeleton. Total value of the smuggled fossils approached $2.5 million.
"These fossils had been illegally exported from China and Mongolia, and then illegally imported into the United States," said Kumar Kibble, special agent in charge of HSI Denver, which includes Wyoming. "Without the vigilance of Homeland Security Investigations, and our law enforcement partners, wholesale looting of a country's historical and cultural artifacts would be a free-for-all for any profiteer."
Agents also found a fossilized juvenile bataar skull hidden in the crawl space of Rolater's Eagle, Colo. residence on Aug. 1, 2012 using a second search warrant.
As part of the plea deal Rolater agreed to pay a $25,000 fine, and will be on supervised probation for two years. A formal sentencing date has not yet been set.
Rolater did not respond to a request for comment prior to press time.
A fossil retailer who owns the "By Nature Gallery" stores in Jackson and Beaver Creek, Colo. pleaded guilty yesterday to smuggling millions of dollars worth of dinosaur bones and other fossils into the U.S. from China and Mongolia. According to a release, both China and Mongolia have extensive "cultural patrimony laws" that protect prehistoric fossils.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Wyoming announced the guilty plea following an investigation involving several federal agencies.
John Richard Rolater, 69, agreed as part of his plea deal to surrender all contraband vertebrate fossils he has, including a saber-toothed cat skull; a pterodactyl-like feilongus fossil; an anchiornis huxleyi fossil – a chicken-sized dinosaur which some say shows the evolutionary pedigree of birds; and a darwinopterus – a pterosaur named after Charles Darwin.
During the investigation, Homeland Security Investigations seized millions of dollars worth of fossils, including the skull of a Tyrannosaurus bataar – closely related to the infamous Tyrannosaurus rex – valued at nearly $1.9 million. The skull originated in Mongolia, and was the cause for the investigation that started in June 2012 after a phone tip. However, when another T. bataar skull was seized in New York, the skull in Rolater's store disappeared. A search warrant was issued to HSI agents, who found the skull stashed in the store director's closet at a residence rented from Rolater.
Other big-ticket seizures included a $173,000 micro-raptor, a $100,000 protoceratops – akin to triceratops – and a $100,000 gallimimus skeleton. Total value of the smuggled fossils approached $2.5 million.
"These fossils had been illegally exported from China and Mongolia, and then illegally imported into the United States," said Kumar Kibble, special agent in charge of HSI Denver, which includes Wyoming. "Without the vigilance of Homeland Security Investigations, and our law enforcement partners, wholesale looting of a country's historical and cultural artifacts would be a free-for-all for any profiteer."
Agents also found a fossilized juvenile bataar skull hidden in the crawl space of Rolater's Eagle, Colo. residence on Aug. 1, 2012 using a second search warrant.
As part of the plea deal Rolater agreed to pay a $25,000 fine, and will be on supervised probation for two years. A formal sentencing date has not yet been set.
Rolater did not respond to a request for comment prior to press time.
Comments
Post a Comment