Florida man trafficked thousands of turtles worth $125K to Hong Kong, Germany

They shelled out good money.

A Florida man pocketed $125,000 from the illegally selling turtles he shipped to Germany and Hong Kong.

John Michael Kreatsoulas, 36, of Alva —near Fort Myers — pleaded guilty after being caught shipping wild-caught Florida turtles through the Miami International Airport between July 2015 and July 2021.

The Omni Reptiles owner was shipping the terrapins — which included three-stripe mud turtles and Florida mud turtles — both domestically and internationally and tagging them with fake “source” codes that labeled them as captive-bred and not wild-caught, according to the Department of Justice.

Kreatsoulas’ business is unregistered.

Prosecutors said he and his co-conspirators “collected and captured various species of turtles” and then “falsified” the US Fish and Wildlife Service Forms 3-177, which are sent with international shipments.

Faking the forms violates the Lacey Act, which bans the sale and transportation of animals that break state laws.

His business exported 100 three-stripe mud turtles to China in August 2015 and the following January he offered $4,000 worth of Central American mud turtles to China.

In May 2016, he falsified two 3-177 forms three days apart and attempted to ship three Florida mud turtles to Germany, according to the DOJ.

In April 2017, he sent a text to his co-conspirator that his “overseas customers want 10,000 at 32 each, so If I sell local, I have to make at least ten bucks…usually 30-1000 a week…right now around 30 should have around 50 tomorrow…I’ll save them for you.”

More than a year later, he still didn’t have enough. He finally shipped the 197 three-stipe mud turtles and 80 Florida mud turtles to China on Oct. 11, 2018.

He later shipped 500 three-striped turtles to Guangzhou, China in 2019, and sent 530 of the same breed of reptile to Hong Kong that May.

After submitting a series of false forms to the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the agency began investigating him in July.

The Alva native tried to cover up the illegal sales by obtaining a license in Florida to “maintain and sell ‘captive-bred’ turtles to prove the appearance the turtles were legally obtained,” the indictment, viewed by The Post, read.

Investigators found he and his co-conspirators profited around $125,000 from the years-long scheme.

Kreatsoulas was convicted of one count of conspiracy to traffic wildlife and nine counts of falsifying records in violation of the Lacey Act.

Kreatsoulas will be back in court on May 17 to be sentenced. He faces a maximum of five years in prison for each count.