OSCEOLA COUNTY, Fla. (WFLA) — A significant case of reptile neglect has come to a conclusion, with a Florida man admitting to felony animal cruelty, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) on Friday.
Kelvin E. Soto, a previous licensee authorized to display and trade reptiles, confessed to the charges on Aug. 14. The FWC reported that their investigation commenced in November 2023 following Soto’s failure to maintain payments for a storage facility in Osceola County.
Access to the storage unit was eventually granted, and company workers, while preparing it for auction, uncovered the shocking condition within.
The FWC reported finding 111 African fat-tailed geckos contained individually inside the storage unit, with 41 already deceased. Images from the FWC depicted the skeletal remains of some of these reptiles.
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(Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission) -
(Credit: Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission)
Authorities noted that the containers were in an unhygienic state, lacking food and water for the geckos. It was established that nobody had visited the storage unit for over two months.
Following a connection made to the crime, a warrant for Soto’s arrest was initiated. He was apprehended in Virginia by local law enforcement and subsequently returned to Florida for legal proceedings.
The FWC said Soto admitted guilt this week after entering a plea agreement. His sentence includes four years of supervised probation, 100 hours of community service, and restitution of more than $5,000 to the facility that cared for the surviving reptiles during the nearly two-year prosecution.
Soto is also prohibited from possessing or having contact with animals and was ordered to forfeit the remaining geckos in his care.
“This case is a powerful example of the work our Captive Wildlife Investigators do every day,” said Maj. John Wilke, FWC Captive Wildlife Section Leader. “Their dedication, thoroughness and persistence ensured accountability for the mistreatment of these animals and justice for the ones that survived.”
Anyone who is aware of a wildlife violation is asked to report it by calling the FWC’s Wildlife Alert Hotline at 888-404-FWCC (888-404-3922) or submitting a tip online at MyFWC.com/WildlifeAlert.
