Posted on: Wednesday, July 24, 2002

Captor of turtles faces gun charge

Advertiser Staff

A Kaua'i man who was sentenced to six months in jail for capturing two endangered green sea turtles a year ago was arrested again this week for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Daniel Isobe, 35, of Kapa'a, was under investigation in the recent deaths of four green sea turtles found slaughtered on Moloa'a Beach, Kaua'i. Officers from the Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement (DOCARE), a division of the state Department of Land and Natural Resources, and the National Marine Fisheries Service executed a search warrant of his home and found a rifle.

Tracy Elder, an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, said ATF officers brought Isobe back to O'ahu Monday, where he was arraigned and detained pending a preliminary hearing Aug. 5.

The turtle remains were found June 16 and were apparently butchered for their meat.

Killing a green sea turtle is a federal offense, with fines up to $25,000 and a year in prison. The green sea turtle found in Hawai'i is classified as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act.

In the previous case, Isobe was found with two turtles weighing 200 and 250 pounds in the bed of his pickup truck after a Kaua'i police officer pulled him over for speeding. Isobe also has been convicted in burglary, theft and escape cases.