Nancy Gonzalez, the founding father of luxurious purse firm Gzuniga Ltd., has been despatched to jail over her purses.
The Colombian designer, whose upscale purses have been seen on Sex and the City and carried by celebrities like Victoria Beckham, was sentenced to 18 months in jail on Monday, The Washington Post reported. She acquired that sentence for illegally importing purses comprised of the pores and skin of crocodiles and snakes protected by worldwide treaties.
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“The press of business, production deadlines, or other economic factors are not justification for anyone to knowingly flout the system and attempt to write their own exceptions to wildlife trafficking laws,” Markenzy Lapointe, the U.S. legal professional for the southern district of Florida, stated in a press release.
From February 2016 to April 2019, Gonzalez enlisted buddies, household, and staff to fly purses made with caiman or python pores and skin from Colombia to the United States, prosecutors stated. Those species are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, a treaty that each the U.S. and Colombia have signed. Gonzalez apparently acquired warnings concerning the smuggling in 2016 and 2017 however continued to import the baggage to America, the place they have been displayed in her New York showroom and bought to high-end shoppers, the Post famous.
Back in July 2022, Gonzalez was arrested in Colombia, the place she served greater than a yr in jail. After being extradited to the U.S., she pleaded responsible in November to 1 rely of conspiracy and two counts of smuggling, the Post stated. Her 18-month sentence is lower than what prosecutors had initially needed, and it is going to be adopted by three years of supervised launch.
Sam Rabin, one in all Gonzalez’s legal professionals, advised the newspaper in an electronic mail that the designer doesn’t plan to attraction her sentence. But he continued to defend his consumer, writing, “While most major purse designers rush samples to fashion shows, sometimes without the proper paperwork, only she was chosen to be prosecuted by the department of justice … Her case should had [sic] been handled administratively instead of by arrest and prosecution.”
And in court docket on Monday, Gonzalez appeared remorseful, in line with the Associated Press. “From the bottom of my heart, I apologize to the United States of America. I never intended to offend a country to which I owe immense gratitude,” she stated. “Under pressure, I made poor decisions.”
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