PORTSMOUTH, New Hampshire (WMUR) -- A 78-year-old man who pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges in connection with the deaths of several turtles found near his home was fined US$620. Charles Puccio pleaded guilty last week to charges of cruelty to wild animals, becoming the first person to be convicted of the crime since its 2022 inception. “It’s very rare,” said Fish and Game Maj. David Welch. “In fact, I can only think of one or two cases in the last 10 years.” In June, calls started coming in from residents on Bog Road in Hillsborough after 15 turtles were found dead in the span of a week. Witnesses said they believed the deaths were intentional after seeing Puccio using an off-road vehicle to hit the turtles and, in one case, stomping on one. A conservation officer with the Fish and Game Department went to the area and used a decoy turtle with surveillance and caught Puccio in the act, leading to an arrest on a charge of cruelty to wild animals. “It’s rare,” Welch said. “It doesn’t affect anything to do with legal take of hunting. But this was the first time, I believe, that we were able to apply that law in such a manner. It carries a misdemeanor penalty and is a criminal act, and the defendant will have a criminal record.” Puccio’s $620 fine is suspended pending good behaviour, so he won’t have to pay it if he is not charged with another crime or violation in the next year. “What’s interesting is that there is a felony-level provision for that,” said legal analyst Patricia LaFrance of Black, LaFrance and Bollinger. “The difference is only in the intent.” LaFrance said charges can stem from the evidence on hand, and prosecutors must prove the crime beyond reasonable doubt. “I don’t know what the evidence is, what his state of mind was at the time,” she said. “There could have been a lot of different factors that went into this plea deal that maybe we don’t know about.” The turtle that was stomped on survived the attack. She is in the care of New Hampshire Turtle Rescue and is expected to be released in the spring.
