Riviera Beach men sent to prison for stealing sea turtle eggs on St. Lucie County beaches

Two Riviera Beach men were sentenced to several months in prison after they were convicted of stealing more than 650 sea turtle eggs on St. Lucie County beaches, according to a statement from the Department of Justice.

Carl Lawrence Cobb, 60, and Raymond Saunders, 50, were found guilty of transporting sea turtle eggs for the purpose of sale, according to the statement.

Cobb, who was found guilty of two counts, was sentenced to seven months in prison with two years of supervised release. He also was ordered to pay $227 to the state.

Saunders, convicted of one count, received the same sentence.

On May 5, the Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission received reports of a man disturbing turtle nests on North Hutchinson Island, according to the statement. An investigation showed Cobb removed more than 200 eggs from two turtle nests.

More: Two men indicted after being charged with carrying about 500 sea turtle eggs

On May 24, law-enforcement officials saw Cobb and Saunders take about 470 eggs from nests. The pair were arrested while taking the eggs to Palm Beach County, according to the statement.

The eggs, which were suspected to belong to loggerhead turtles, were relocated by marine biologists.

Loggerheads are the most commonly encountered nesting sea turtles on the Treasure Coast. Nesting season runs from March through October.

Sea turtles are protected by federal and state laws that forbid taking, possessing, disturbing, mutilating, destroying, selling or harassing all types of sea turtles, their nests and their eggs.

The men were tried and found guilty in a U.S. District Court Aug. 11.

Bohatch is a breaking news reporter at TCPalm. Contact Bohatch at 772-692-8998 or emily.bohatch@tcpalm.com. Twitter: @emilybohatch