Sharks Trafficked By New York Man Who Kept Them In His Backyard Pool

A man in upstate New York pleaded guilty to illegally holding seven sandbar sharks at his home pool and selling them on the Internet, according to New York's attorney general's office.

Joshua Seguine, 40, of Lagrangeville, New York, was in illegal possession of the sharks, which are a protected species. He was fined $5,000 and was sentenced to a conditional discharge.

The sharks have since been transferred to an aquarium in Coney Island, a neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York.

“Let this serve as a loud and clear message: We will not tolerate anyone who preys on protected species to line their pockets,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a statement Wednesday.

“My office will continue to enforce the laws that safeguard our wildlife, and we will hold accountable those who violate them.”

Seguine caught the attention of the New York State Department of Environmental Conversation Commissioner (DEC) in July 2017 when he was arrested in Georgia for driving without a license. Police found five sharks swimming in a tank in the back of his truck.

Seguine told authorities he was taking the sharks to New York with the intention of selling them. He also mentioned he had sharks at his residence.

Seguine’s information was handed over to the New York DEC, which learned he was selling the sharks under the business name Aquatic Apex Life LLC.

Authorities issued a search warrant for his home and found the sharks along with a dead hammerhead shark, two dead leopard sharks, and the snout of a small tooth sawfish, which is an endangered species.