A fossils dealer from Virginia has been sent to prison for three months for smuggling a 70-million-year-old Tyrannosaurus skeleton from Mongolia into the United States and by making false statements to U.S. officials.

Eric Prokopi, 39, was sentenced in U.S. District Court after a prosecutor actually described him in heroic terms, saying he ended up cooperating with authorities, making it possible for more than 18 largely complete dinosaur fossils to be located -- enough for Mongolia to open its first dinosaur museum, reported the Associated Press.

Prokopi had been found guilty of telling U.S. Officials that the Tyrannosaurus bones, which had been disassembled for the illegal shipment, were really reptile fossils from Great Britain.

Once it was re-assembled, the skeleton was sold for more than $1 million by Dallas-based Heritage Auctions before it was seized by the U.S. government and returned to Mongolia.

Judge Alvin Hellerstein commended Prokopi for his cooperation and for the work he did as a commercial paleontologist to enhance the world's knowledge of the origins of humankind, but nonetheless imposed three months of confinement and 100 hours of community service.

Hellerstein said Prokopi had "done a bad thing" and needed punishment.

The AP story said Prokopi apologized to the court, saying he hoped to rebuild his business, legitimately. He also said he hoped to repair any damage to the field of paleontology caused by his prior dealings.

"I sincerely love fossils," said Prokopi.

Defense attorney Georges Lederman had asked the judge to spare Prokopi from prison, noting his later cooperation and that the case had led to his divorce, loss of his home and a damaged reputation that caused others in his profession to avoid working with him.

Prokopi's knowledge helped ongoing investigations into the dinosaur fossil trade in Wyoming, California and New York, Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin S. Bell said in court, and his assistance "has been useful, has been fruitful, has been important."

Bell said Prokopi's insights "revitalized efforts to police what had essentially become a black market in stolen national treasuries that operated in plain sight ... it is safe to say that there is not an active fossil investigation that has not been informed, to some degree, by information given by Prokopi in this case."