KOTA KINABALU: An immigrant was sentenced to three years’ jail after pleading guilty to possessing 570 pieces of turtle scales at the Tawau Sessions Court on Tuesday (April 7).
Khalid Janullah, 65, was handed the sentence after he admitted to the charges read before Judge Ahmad Faizadh Yahaya.
According to the facts of the case, Khalid was found with the items at around 9.05am on Nov 15, 2025, at a premises in Semporna town.
The scales were from the totally protected turtle species of Eretmochelys imbricata, or Hawksbill sea turtles, under the Wildlife Conservation Enactment 1997.
He could have been fined between RM50,000 and RM250,000 or jailed for between 1 and 5 years upon conviction.
Khalid is required to be referred to the Immigration Department for immigration offences after serving time for the offence of possessing parts of a protected species.
Primus Lambut had led the prosecution while Khalid was unrepresented.
