Miami, Florida – A luxury handbag designer from Colombia has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for illegally importing merchandise made from protected caiman and python species into the United States. Nancy Teresa Gonzalez de Barberi, the founder of the luxury handbag company Gzuniga, was also ordered to forfeit all seized products and banned from commercial wildlife trade activities for three years.
Gonzalez’s associate, Mauricio Giraldo, was also sentenced to prison, while another co-conspirator, John Camilo Aguilar Jaramillo, is awaiting sentencing. The trio, all Colombian citizens, were extradited to the U.S. to face charges.
The designer purses, handbags, and totes made from caiman and python skins were smuggled into the country with the help of friends, relatives, and employees wearing or carrying them on passenger airlines. Once in the U.S., the merchandise was delivered to the Gzuniga showroom in New York for sale.
The trade in caimans and pythons is regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which the U.S. and Colombia are signatories to. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida emphasized the need for strict compliance and oversight to protect endangered species from trafficking.
The conspiracy involved smuggling designer handbags made from the protected species from 2016 to 2019. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service highlighted the importance of collaboration to disrupt wildlife trafficking networks and hold accountable those who exploit protected species for profit.
Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim expressed the U.S.’s commitment to protecting endangered species and prosecuting illegal smuggling. The Justice Department thanked its international partners for their assistance in the investigation, extradition, and prosecution of the case.
Gonzalez was also sentenced to three years of probation, while Giraldo received time served and a year of supervised release. The U.S. Attorney’s Office vowed to continue enforcing laws that safeguard endangered species and combat illegal wildlife trafficking.