A Williamsburg man will serve three months in prison for illegally importing dinosaur fossils, according to federal court records.
Eric Prokopi, a self-described “commercial paleontologist,” imported in 2010 and 2011 three shipping containers from Mongolia containing numerous fossilized remains, including parts of Tyrannosaurus bataar skeletons embedded in rocks, according to documents filed with U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prokopi then restored the skeleton before selling it for about $1.05 million at auction in New York City.
The fossilized remains were removed from Mongolia in a violation of that country’s laws, according to a court document prepared by his attorney. A document prepared by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York said Prokopi and a business partner in Great Britain purchased several shipments worth of fossils from a Mongolian national for $200,000.
The U.S. government seized the fossils, alleging Prokopi made false statements on customs forms to get the fossils into the U.S. Along with fossils from numerous dinosaurs found in Mongolia, he is also believed to have tried to import a Microraptor skeleton into the U.S. from China in May 2010.
The document says Prokopi believed the Mongolian dinosaur fossil trade was sanctioned by the government, which is not the case. Similar fossils from Mongolia are available on international open markets and eBay. The trouble arose when Prokopi learned the shipping containers containing the fossils lacked the necessary export permits. He then made false declarations on customs forms, according to the document. The Tyrannosaurus skeleton was returned to Mongolia in May 2013.
“Although certainly not offered as any justification for his unlawful conduct, the inescapable irony remains that but for Prokopi’s actions, the magnificent [Tyrannosaurus] now standing in a Mongolian museum may very well have been lost in the Gobi Desert to the sands of time,” the attorney, Georges G. Lederman, wrote.
The document from the U.S. Attorney’s office notes enough dinosaur bones were recovered to start a museum. The U.S. Attorney document notes Prokopi was crucial in assisting the U.S. government in safely returning all of the fossils to the Mongolian government. His cooperation has led to the arrest of other people believed to have exported dinosaur fossils illegally.
“Although these owe to leads developed separately and in some cases before Prokopi’s cooperation, it is safe to say that there is not an active fossil investigation that has not been informed, to some degree, by information given by Prokopi in this case,” according to the U.S. Attorney document.
Prokopi pleaded guilty to conspiracy to smuggle goods into the U.S., entry of goods by means of false statements and transportation of stolen goods. A document outlining his sentence asks for it to be served as close to Williamsburg as possible but does not define that location.
