Queens Tortoise-Napper Faces Jail Time For Stealing Rare Reptile

DOUGLASTON, QUEENS -- A judge is expected to shell out jail time to a Queens man for stealing a 95-pound tortoise whose disappearance from a Douglaston environmental center made waves this summer.

Shawn Waters, 37, of East Elmhurst, pleaded guilty on Thursday to plucking a rare 17-year-old tortoise named Millennium from the Alley Pond Environmental Center in July. Waters now faces six months behind bars for criminal possession of Millennium, who was returned days later by a Connecticut man who shelled out $300 for the massive turtle in a reptile exchange, Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said.

“Millenium the tortoise is safely back within the confines of his habitat at APEC and the person responsible for the illegal summer-time travel across state lines will also be confined - to Rikers Island," Brown said.

An APEC employee first realized Millennium, an African spurred tortoise worth around $2,500, had gone missing at around 4 p.m. on July 16, authorities said. The center's staffers then noticed a gaping hole near the rear fence of the tortoise habitat.

According to the charges, a Stanford, Connecticut man selling a musk turtle on Craiglist said he received a call from a cell phone that police later traced back to Waters, who was interested in trading him an African spurred tortoise for his turtle.

The two met at the Metro North train station in Fairfield, Connecticut, on July 23, where the man shelled out $300 along with his turtle in an exchange with Waters for the tortoise, the complaint said. But the next day, upon seeing news reports that Millennium had gone missing, the man handed the tortoise over to a detective from the NYPD's 111th precinct, who later confirmed with APEC staff that it was indeed Millennium, Brown said.

Waters admitted to a detective that he had spoken to and met up with the Connecticut man to exchange reptiles, according to the charges. He pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gia Morris, who indicated she would sentence Waters to six months in jail on Jan. 18.

"Let this be a warning, that my office will pursue justice for all those in Queens County - including rare tortoises,” Brown said.

Lead image via Patch.