Dallas Woman To Serve 15 Days For Stolen Conch Shells: Report

DALLAS, TX — One Dallas woman must spend 15 days in jail after stealing 40 Queen Conch shells from Key West in July 2017, various news outlets report.

Diana Candelario Fiscal-Gonzalez was arrested after an officer found her in the driveway of a Key West home with three plastic containers and a water hose, The Miami Herald reported.

Police told the newspaper she had taken the shells, which contained living mollusks, a protected species, and intended to give them as gifts.

According to the Herald, Fiscal-Gonzalez pleaded no contest and told a judge she did not know it was illegal to remove them from the water.

Fiscal-Gonzalez will also serve six months of probation and pay a $500 fine plus $268 for court costs, the Herald reported.

Most of the conchs confiscated from Fiscal-Gonzalez and returned to the ocean were still alive. (Subscribe to your local Patch for breaking news alerts and daily digests of the most important news stories in your area.)

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, it's illegal to possess any living queen conch shells. It is only legal to possess the shells if they do not contain a living queen conch. It's also illegal to kill, mutilate or remove the conch.

USA Today reports Conch shells are a vital part of the local culture in the Florida Keys. Native islanders are referred to as Conchs, and the Keys have been nicknamed the Conch Republic.

Image via Joe Raedle, Getty Images