NY man kept sharks in basement pool to sell online
In this Aug. 23, 2017 photo provided by the NY Department of Environmental Conservation, sharks swim in a basement swimming pool in LaGrangeville, N.Y. (New York State Department of Environmental Conservation via AP)
NEW YORK - A Dutchess County man has been ordered to pay a $5,000 fine after pleading guilty to illegally raising sharks in his basement pool to sell over the internet.
Joshua Seguine, 40, was raising 7 sandbar sharks, a protected species in New York, to sell.
State officials started investigating in July of 2017 after he was arrested in Georgia for driving without a license and for possessing five undersized sharks in a large circular tank in the back of his truck.
NY POLICE ARREST MAN 3 TIMES IN SAME DAY
Seguine admitted that he was transporting the sharks to New York, where he intended to sell them, and that he had other live sharks at his house in New York.
Seguine was conducting business under the name Aquatic Apex Life LLC and was selling sharks over the internet.
Investigators found an above-ground pool in Seguine’s house that contained seven live sharks. Two dead leopard sharks, one dead hammerhead shark, and the snout of a smalltooth sawfish were found at the home.
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Biologists moved the sharks to the Riverhead facility and they were moved to the New York Aquarium at Coney Island.