Gopher-Tortoise-killing developer faces charges (Florida)

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Trial set over killing of gopher tortoises

 

ENVIRONMENT: Gasparilla landowner accused of killing

protected reptilesBy

Kate Spinner

Published: Wednesday, December 23, 2009 at 1:00 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, December 22, 2009 at 7:58 p.m.

CHARLOTTE COUNTY - A Gasparilla Island property owner is scheduled

for trial in February on 12 felony counts of killing or wounding gopher

tortoises, a Florida threatened species.

 

http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20091223/ARTICLE/912231025/2055/NEWS?Title=Trial-set-over-gohper-tortoises & tc=ar

 

Hesam Oddin Mirani was arrested by state officers in June on charges

that he destroyed 12 gopher tortoise burrows on a vacant Gasparilla

Island lot he bought in 2005 for $512,500.

Samantha Syoen, communications director for the State Attorney's Office

in Fort Myers, which is prosecuting the case, said Mirani wanted to built

a home, but the property allegedly had tortoise burrows.

" Then they were no longer there, and that's the basis of the

case, " Syoen said.

The case is set for a jury trial in Punta Gorda on Feb. 1. The maximum

sentence for conviction on the charges is 60 years in prison, Syoen

said.

Mirani was released on $30,000 bail, according to records with the

Charlotte County Clerk of Court.

Fort Myers attorney Charles Harris is representing Mirani, who entered a

written plea of not guilty in June. Harris did not return messages left

at his office.

Mirani, a former engineer for Parsons Brinckerhoff and owner of a

business called Mirtek Engineering & Development Corp. with postal

boxes in Orlando and Boca Grande, could not be reached.

" We believe there is an egregious issue here, which is why we've

taken this to the State Attorney's Office, " said Gary Morse, a

spokesman for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation

Commission.

Gopher tortoises are protected as a threatened species under state laws.

Their burrows provide habitat for a number of other imperilled species,

including the gopher mouse and the indigo snake.

" They're a keystone species, and they're extremely important in the

environment of Florida, " Morse said.

For years, some Florida counties allowed developers to bury the tortoises

alive for a fee. The state outlawed that practice in 2007. Property

owners are now required to keep the tortoises on their property or

relocate them to a suitable site.

Mirani's alleged offense occurred in 2008, Syoen said. She said the

commission asked for a warrant to arrest Mirani last year. He turned

himself in in Orlando, Syoen said.

Neither the commission nor the State Attorney's Office would release

further information.

 

 

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