Latest Eric Prokopi Stories

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Nearly a year after a dinosaur fossil was first reported stolen from Mongolia it is finally being returned to its rightful owner. US authorities in New York have returned the remains of the 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus bataar to the Mongolian government. The skeleton, which was looted from the Gobi Desert, was illegally smuggled into the US by Eric Prokopi, who later sold the fossil at an auction in NYC for a cool $1.1...

April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Eric Prokopi, a Florida fossils dealer, has pled guilty to smuggling charges. He has agreed to give up the $1 million Tyrannosaurus bataar skeleton seized by the U.S. government earlier this year after he attempted to auction it through Heritage Auctions. Prokopi is giving up "Ty," the T. bataar that will eventually be returned to Mongolia, along with six other dinosaurs and various other bones in a deal that might win him a little...

Lawrence LeBlond for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online The saga continues for a Tarbosaurus dinosaur fossil from Mongolia. In the latest act, a Florida man wanted for allegedly smuggling a host of prehistoric fossils, including the Tarbosaurus skeleton which had been recently sold illegally through Heritage Auctions, was arrested on Wednesday, authorities reported. Eric Prokopi, 38, of Gainesville, Fla., was arrested on charges that he illegally smuggled numerous dinosaur fossils into...