So there's this guy in the middle of this mall with a cart of hatchling turtles justr selling them to people, so illegal, they're yellow bellied sliders. i found one floating around dead, and he has them literally in two inches of filthy water and nothing elses, tons of them crawling over eachother, in little tanks with some filthy water.. not really anything to rest on except other turtles. they're way under 4 inches.

I was just wondering what the effects of turning him in would be. what would the government do with the baby turtles? how would i go about doing it? would i have any significant effect? I bought a baby turtle from him... because i didn't want him to end up like the one that was dead.. would the gov't take away my turtle? would I get in trouble?

This site should answer some of your questions:

http://www.tortoise.org/general/4inch.html

The FDA regulates this. If the person is found to be commercially selling turtles under 4" in length, the turtles would be destroyed. If they are not "commercial" but just his "hobby" or some other way for him to get out of it, he might be fined a few pennies for animal neglect or something. I'm afraid the laws really don't help the turtles. The FDA probably wouldn't bother with the turtle you've bought even if you told them. They've got more important things to do. Then again, well, you know the government sometimes prefers to go after the little guys and, well,...

I was at a Local Flea Market a few Weeks ago. I saw the same thing.. Baby Red Eared Slider's , Just baby's Being Sold for 10 bucks.
About 2 weeks pasted and my Brother comes home with one of these babies.
I was so upset with him. I let him know that the Chance of this Turtle Living is not good.
I can put this Turtle in a TeaSpoon.Thats How Small it is.
It makes me Sick to see this. Sorry had to rant somewhere..Thanks..

Yes, the illegal turtle trade is doing very well. Some commercial web sites even sell them and no one stops them. For the proper care of your new baby, see http://www.fishpondinfo.com/hatchling.htm