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La Crosse man fined, sentenced to time served for illegally trafficking turtles

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He was busted for illegally trafficking rare turtles, a crime that could have sent the La Crosse man to federal prison.

Markos Diderrich

Instead, Markos Diderrich was sentenced to time served in jail (44 days) and fined for the infraction.

The 28-year-old pled guilty in June to taking four Blanding’s turtles — a threatened species — from a nature area in Minnesota, bringing them to his home in La Crosse, before sending them to a reptile dealer in Tampa, Florida in exchange for other turtles.

He was caught when a bicyclist saw him return to the Weaver Dunes nesting site to get more turtles.

A federal judge has sentenced Diderrich to three years on supervised release and to pay a $2,000 fine to a wildlife reward fund.

A native of Prairie du Chien, Brad graduated from UW - La Crosse and has worked in radio news for more than 30 years, mostly in the La Crosse area. He regularly covers local courts and city and county government. Brad produces the features "Yesterday in La Crosse" and "What's Buried on Brad's Desk." He also writes the website "Triviazoids," which finds odd connections between events that happen on a certain date, and he writes and performs with the local comedy group Heart of La Crosse. Brad been featured on several national TV programs because of his memory skills.

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