The 51 were apparently part of a much larger collection, as Kai Xu, 27, pleaded guilty for attempting to smuggle more than 1,000 of the reptiles out of southeastern Michigan.
He would reportedly order the animals online, then go into the US to pick them up and ship them to China or bring them back to Canada. It is illegal to transport wildlife from the US without a permit. Xu was charged with six crimes in federal court in Ann Arbor, Newser reports.
In China, the turtles are far more valuable, and the prosecution stated that he “regularly deals in turtle shipments worth $30,000, $80,000, or $125,000.
Xu has been in custody for over a year since his arrest in September 2014. If convicted, he faces a maximum of ten years in prison.
