A federal grand jury in Salt Lake City returned a 13-count indictment charging four people with allegedly buying and selling more than $1 million in “paleontological resources,” which includes dinosaur bones that were exported to China, authorities announced Thursday.
Vint Wade, 65, and Donna Wade, 67, of Moab, Utah; Steven Willing, 67, of Los Angeles, and Jordan Willing, 40 of Ashland, Oregon, committed multiple felonies and violated the Paleontological Resources Preservation Act, also known as PRPA, according to a Thursday statement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah.
Authorities did not specify any relationship between Vint Wade and Donna Wade. Steven Willing was identified as the father of Jordan Willing, according to the indictment.
Over five years, from March 2018 to March 2023, the defendants bought, moved and exported dinosaur bones from federal land, prosecutors allege. The four are also accused of knowingly hiding and keeping stolen property belonging to the United States.
Read the full story at NBCNews.com here.
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