Forum photo courtesy of APEC
Millennium was returned to APEC safe and sound in July.
By Forum Staff
Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown today announced that a 37-year-old East Elmhurst man has pleaded guilty to criminally possessing the 17-year-old tortoise by the name of Millenium (sic) that went missing from the Alley Pond Environmental Center (APEC) in Douglaston, Queens, in July 2017 and was found in Connecticut a week later. District Attorney 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. The defendant has now admitted his guilt and will go to jail as punishment for possessing the stolen reptile. Let this be a warning, that my office will pursue justice for all those in Queens County – including rare tortoises.” The District Attorney identified the defendant as Shawn Waters, 37, of 103 Street in East rd Elmhurst, Queens. The defendant pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property today before Queens Criminal Court Judge Gia Morris, who indicated she will sentence Waters to six months in jail on January 18, 2018. District Attorney Brown said that, according to the charges, an employee at the Alley Pond Environmental Center realized that Millenium, an African spurred tortoise, was missing at approximately 4:00 p.m. on July 16, 2017. Staffers noticed a hole in the rear fence near the tortoise habitat at the time of Millenium’s disappearance. The 95-pound reptile is estimated to be 17 years old and is valued at approximately $2,500. According to the charges, District AttorneyBrown continued, a Stamford, Connecticut, man posted an ad on Craigslist stating he was selling a musk turtle and a day later he received a cell phone call from a man who told him he was interested in trading an African spurred tortoise for his musk turtle. On July 23, 2017, the Connecticut man met with the caller at the Fairfield, Connecticut, Metro North train station and traded his turtle plus $300 for the African spurred tortoise. The next day on July 24, 2017, a detective from the NYPD’s 111 Detective Squad recovered the African th spurred tortoise from the Connecticut man, who saw news reports about Millenium going missing. An APEC employee confirmed the tortoise’s identity and Millenium was returned to his home. District Attorney Brown added, according to the complaint, that the cell phone used by the man who had offered to trade the African spurred tortoise came back to Waters. During a conversation with an NYPD detective, the defendant stated, in sum and substance, that he had indeed spoken to the Connecticut man about exchanging reptiles and met with him to trade the tortoise for the turtle.
