This is not the sequel to Dr. Seuss’ “Fox in Socks.”

A man from New York admitted to stuffing 850 protected turtles into socks and trying to smuggle them to Hong Kong.

The value of the turtles was $1.4 million.

Wei Qiang Lin pleaded guilty in federal court in New York this week after he was caught trying to export more than 220 packages that had about 850 eastern box turtles and three-toed turtles, the Department of Justice announced.

He labeled the poxes as “plastic animal toys” instead of live turtles, according to the DOJ.

The shipments were sent from August 2023 to November 2024.

The live animals were discovered during a border inspection where officials found the animals "bound and taped inside knotted socks within the shipping boxes."

Lin is also accused of shipping 11 other packages that held reptiles, including venomous snakes, the DOJ said.

Both eastern box turtles and three-toed turtles are native to the U.S., but are popular pets, both in the U.S. and in other parts of the world. They are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora because of the illegal exporting of tens of thousands of them annually in the 1990s

Lin faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the shipping of the animals.

As part of the plea, he also gave up ownership of the animals.

He will be sentenced in December.

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