A Florida man has pleaded guilty to charges he smuggled dinosaur fossils into the U.S.from Mongolia and China.

38-year old Eric Prokopi is a former commercial palaeontologist and was charged with importing and selling a near complete dinosaur skeleton and other fossils.

Prosecutors say the 70 million year old skeleton became the subject of an international custody battle after Mongolian officials said the skeleton had been stolen from the Gobi Desert.

At the time of his arrest, Prokopi was described as a one man black marketeer in prehistoric fossils.

He could face up to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced in April.