Celeb purse designer sentenced to 18 months in jail for smuggling crocodile purses
MIAMI — A number one clothier whose equipment have been utilized by celebrities from Britney Spears to the solid of the “Intercourse and the Metropolis” TV sequence was sentenced Monday to 18 months in jail after pleading responsible in Miami federal courtroom on costs of smuggling crocodile purses from her native Colombia.
Nancy Gonzalez was arrested in 2022 in Cali, Colombia, and later extradited to the U.S. for operating a sprawling multiyear conspiracy that concerned recruiting couriers to move her high-end purses on business flights to high-end showrooms and New York style occasions — all in violation of U.S. wildlife legal guidelines.
“It’s all pushed by the cash,” stated Assistant U.S. Lawyer Thomas Watts-Fitzgerald, who in contrast Gonzalez’s habits to that of drug traffickers. “If you wish to deter the conduct, you need the cocaine kingpin, not the particular person within the subject.”
Attorneys for Gonzalez has sought leniency for the superstar designer, describing her journey as a divorced single mom of two youngsters in Cali who designed belts on a house stitching machine for associates right into a style icon who may compete with the likes of Dior, Prada and Gucci.
They confirmed in courtroom a video, from 2019, of high patrons from Bergdorf Goodman, Saks and different retailers praising her creativity and productiveness.
“She was decided to indicate her youngsters and the world that ladies, together with minority girls like herself, can pursue their desires efficiently, and turn into financially impartial,” they wrote in a memo previous to Monday’s listening to. “In opposition to all odds, this tiny however mighty lady was capable of create the very first luxurious, high-end style firm from a 3rd world nation.”
Nevertheless, the federal government countered that she had acquired nice wealth and an opulent way of life, which contrasted with the couriers she recruited to smuggle her merchandise into the USA. In accordance with the testimony of her co-defendants and former workers, forward of vital style occasions, Gonzalez, described as a micro-manager, would recruit as many as 40 passengers to hold 4 designer purses every on business flights. On this method, prosecutors estimate that she smuggled items value as a lot as $2 million into the U.S.
The entire hides have been from caiman and pythons bred in captivity. Nonetheless, on some events she did not receive the right import authorizations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, required underneath a extensively ratified worldwide treaty governing the commerce in endangered and threatened wildlife species.
In 2016 and 2017, she was warned by U.S. officers towards sidestepping such guidelines, making her conduct notably “egregious,” Decide Robert Scola stated in handing down his sentence.
Though commerce within the skins utilized by Gonzalez was not prohibited, they got here from protected wildlife that requires shut monitoring underneath the Conference on Worldwide Commerce in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, identified by its initials as CITES.
Gonzalez, addressing the courtroom earlier than sentencing, stated she deeply regretted not meticulously following U.S. legal guidelines and that her solely want is to hug as soon as extra her 103-year-old mom.
“From the underside of my coronary heart, I apologize to the USA of America. I by no means supposed to offend a rustic to which I owe immense gratitude,” she stated holding again tears. “Underneath stress, I made poor selections.”
