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Reuters file
The skeleton of the Tyrannosaurus Bataar dinosaur as shown on Oct. 17, 2012.
By Chris Francescani, Reuters
NEW YORK — A nearly complete 70-million-year-old tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton will be returned to Mongolia following the high-profile prosecution of a Florida paleontologist by federal authorities in New York, U.S. authorities said on Thursday.
A New York federal judge ordered the skeleton and other fossils forfeited to the U.S. government this week after the paleontologist pled guilty in December to fraud and conspiracy.
Ellen Davis, a spokeswoman for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said his office would return the 8-foot-tall, 24-foot-long mostly reconstructed cousin of the Tyrannosaurus rex.
Mongolian officials demanded the skeleton's return after paleontologist Eric Prokopi sold it at a Manhattan auction last spring for $1.05 million. Mongolia suspected the skeleton had been smuggled out of its fossil-rich Gobi desert
U.S. authorities filed charges against Prokopi and seized the skeleton, which is fossilized bones welded to a metal frame. In announcing the seizure, Bharara called Prokopi a "one man black market in prehistoric fossils."
Authorities accused Prokopi of having lied on U.S. customs forms when he declared the fossilized bones were worth $19,000.
In a New York courtroom in September, Prokopi's defense attorney challenged the charge that his client had lied on the forms, saying the reconstruction was not a single creature but bones from multiple dinosaurs. Mongolian authorities and U.S. government paleontological experts believed it was a single creature.
A federal judge suggested the skeleton might be a "Frankenstein model of dinosaur parts" and asked a prosecutor why government experts had not recognized that the skeleton was from several sources.
"It was marketed as one dinosaur," the prosecutor said. "A 75 percent complete, but one dinosaur."
In December, Prokopi pleaded guilty to conspiracy, entry of goods by means of false statements, and the interstate and foreign transportation of goods taken by fraud.
He faces at least 10 years in prison if convicted on the fraud charge when he is sentenced in April.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2013. Check for restrictions at: http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
Leave a Comment:
Very good news indeed! Thanks to everybody involved in returning this treasure to Mongolia, especially the DAs office, paleontologists and activists that drew publics attention to the matter.
Having said that I would like to express sadness when, in rush to point fingers, one of the highly respected and dedicated Mongolian paleontologist was accused by the media, the Mongolian Culture Ministry and the Minister herself in participating in the smuggling business without due process or court decision. Dr. A. Perenlei passed away in January after long illness while being accused of illegal activities against which he fought all his life. His passing was fastned by accusations in the media, while official investigations were still being conducted.
Glad you are happy, but I would like to point out this case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney's Office. The DA had nothing to do with it. Thank God there are some former US Customs Agents in ICE out there who still remember how to prosecute smuggling cases!
nice I've been waiting for an update on this for a while now. Glad to hear that justice will be done and this creaature will get to go back to its natural habitat wherer it belongs and maybe finnd some sort of normal life that it's no doubt always longed for since being smuggled away from its birth-place. its stories like this that make me remember humannity isnt all bad but can really accomplish some amazinzg things when it comes toggteher united under a common and noble cause. best of luck to this guy and i wish the mongolians people long-healtha dn rposperity for this thing!
LitterHater-----
Huh?
My guess is that LH is getting paid by the letter. No need for it to make sense.
Good grief, it is a pile of bones. It will go back to Mongolia, and they will sell it to someone else. Everyone here thinks that it was obtained fraudulently. Maybe, but it was not done without inside help. everyone is trying to make a buck and I suspect that Mongolia is no different than the US. Neale, you have it right. If the government does it, they don't care, but let an individual do it and they get put in prison. As for Brisaber, you are an idiot.
I wonder why governments have the right to steal private property, then prosecute people for SELLING THEIR OWN PROPERTY. This is Bull@!$%#. Just as England seizes old coins found on private property, this, too was theft by government.
So, just so we understand you better: you are advocating the smuggling of illegal items into the country and then selling them to anyone we want to? Let me guess, you're from Northern Mexico?
So by your logic, some dudes should be able to come into my house, steal my jewelry, and then sell it for profit? After all, once they've stolen it from me, it is in their possession, thereby "their" property. Maybe they can export my jewelry into another country, call the diamonds "rocks" and pay no import/export duties on their giant profits, too. Idiot.
Private property, taken from Private Property by the owner OF that property is not stolen. And no. I'm not from northern Mexico.
As to breaking into your house, that's not exactly what happened here. And taxes are immoral. Go look in the mirror. You will then see an idiot for real.
Welcome to the government Of Obama, by Obama, and for Obama.
It has nothing to do with Obama. It was falsely declared when he brought it into the country. That is smuggling. When it is smuggled, it is no longer private property. Now it is contraband, and it is treated no differently than drugs, weapons, artifacts, prohibited foods or animals. The government always has had the right to sieze contraband.
Maybe you just feel that people should be able to ignore laws simply because they are inconvenient? Are you an anarchist?
If you stole the jewelry, or didn't declare it when you entered the country with it? Yes. And BTW - Customs is not selling it for a profit. It is being shipped back to Mongolia, from which it was taken (also illegally).
Sorry CrazyLady. Misread your post. :P
NealE Osbourne, The bones were stolen property! Numb Nuts!
Hey, talk about numb nuts- learn to use the cap key, AND how to read- Spell my name correctly. it IS, after all, right in fromt of you.
The n key is just to the left of that pesky m key there Neale. Geeezzzz
That was on purpose, to add a little levity to my rebuke- Of course, there is BIG difference between adding two letters to a name and shifting one key in a word.
He faces 10 years for this crap and the Rabbi who got caught trying to solicit sex with a 14 year old faces 4 years.
What's wrong with this picture?
"There's nothing to explain. You are trying to kidnap what I have rightfully stolen."
Yeah, get dat T-Rex outta here! Why does everyone think Mr. T is da berries? Looky dem pathetic thangs called arms. Mine looks a whole lots better! And I have three claws to a hand. Not a puny two, I can also shift my jaws to take a bigger bite. Remember how a T blindly sniffed around da night it broke outta Jurassic Park? Even chased a thrown flare. Not to mention eating off a toilet. What a joke.
When you're build like a car you got a hubcap diamond star halo you're dirty and sweet oh yeah!
Screw the Mongols and leave the guy alone to make a few bucks.
They don't even know how to preserve their own fossils.
The guy did all the work, where were the lazy Mongol officials all that time?
Stupid US courts give in to foreigner that whines.
The Mongolian government has a sweet racket going on here. They turn a blind eye to a bunch of bones leaving the country, let somebody else do all of the work to assemble the skeleton, and then pitch a fit to get it back. Now they'll sell it at a tidy profit, while the American taxpayers pay all of the court costs. No doubt we'll get to pay for the shipping too!
So true.
Guess Mongolia has a bone to pick with this guy...
That picture looks like my Ex mother in law.
now, instead of us paying $50,000 a year to keep him in prison, lets send him to the gobi desert and let him dig to his hearts content for their government???
70 Million Years Old?! HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA LOL