Lawsuit in a nutshell: Give back my turtles

State and federal wildlife enforcement officers seized about 500 turtles from Santhuff's Lawrenceville home two years ago after a joint investigation. Now Santhuff is defending himself in a case that resembles a drug investigation, with undercover operations and deals made at night. Only this investigation doesn't involve drugs at all. It's all about turtles.

Santhuff has filed a $1 million federal civil rights lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, contending that his rights of freedom from unlawful search and seizure were violated. He also has filed a civil suit against the Georgia Department of Natural Resources to get back the turtle collection removed from his home.

In the civil suit, Santhuff says the turtles were essentially priceless. Some experts say the turtles --- map turtles, to be exact --- are valued at $350 apiece. But the pace of this case is one a turtle might like. His suits are on hold until a criminal investigation into why he had the turtles in the first place --- soon to enter its third year --- is resolved.

Who's the violator?

Santhuff, 35, has collected turtles since he was a child. He said he has been an advocate to tighten state regulations against the sale of protected turtle species. "I've made no money in it, except grants to study, " he said.

State court documents show that he also has worked as a cooperating private individual with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, essentially acting as a confidential informant to help expose illegal turtle black marketers.

According to the court records, Santhuff received $400 from a Fish and Wildlife Service agent in September 2004 to make an illegal purchase of turtles as part of a federal undercover operation into the trade. He said he met two men at a McDonald's in Dawsonville the next day to buy 12 black-knob sawback map turtles.

One of the men was Steve Seitz, a Georgia DNR officer. Santhuff said he reported the purchase to federal authorities and to the state attorney general's office, expecting an investigation into corruption among wildlife officials. But federal and state agents used that purchase as part of their evidence to obtain a search warrant against Santhuff. Nine months later, in July 2005, the agents served the warrant and seized his collection. Officials charged Santhuff with 21 violations of protected species laws.

"It's no mistake that an individual would have so many turtles, " said Thomas Floyd, a wildlife biologist with Georgia DNR. "It's fairly obvious to connect the dots there that it's beyond a hobby."

Santhuff denies the charges. He has filed records in court that he claims will prove that he had permits from other states where he legally gathered his collection over the years. He acquired some of the turtles in his collection before wildlife protection laws were in place, he said.

Georgia DNR officers took the turtles to a fish hatchery near Social Circle, about 50 miles east of Atlanta, for safekeeping. Santhuff filed an emergency motion at court for their return, arguing that they would grow sick and die from infections at the facility. A few months later, Santhuff and his attorney inspected the hatchery. More than 200 of the turtles had died, Santhuff said.

Floyd disputes that, saying no more than about 25 percent of the map turtles had died from infections.

Cris Hagen, a University of Georgia biologist, said he helped care for the turtles at Social Circle. Some had infections and were "stressed out" by the move from Lawrenceville, he said.

Highly coveted animals

UGA veterinarians treated the turtles, and the survivors have since been moved to a research center in Savannah and to Zoo Atlanta, he said.

Map turtle species are considered threatened in the wild. Their value as pets and decorations --- or exotic food and medicine in parts of Asia --- has led hunters to pack the turtles up by the thousands for sale overseas, noted Joseph T. Collins, director for the Center for North American Herpetology in Kansas.

"These things are highly coveted by collectors, not just in the United States but around the world, " said Jeff Lovich, a North American turtle expert and deputy director of the Southwest Biological Science Center in Flagstaff, Ariz.