The smuggled bags were crafted from protected caiman and python species.

A luxury handbag designer, Nancy Teresa Gonzalez de Barberi, who is the founder of the luxury handbag company Gzuniga, has been sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty to smuggling purses made of the skins of protected reptiles. This action was confirmed by the U.S. Department of Justice. She was found guilty of illegally importing merchandise from Colombia to the United States that was made from protected wildlife.

Mauricio Giraldo, an associate of Gonzalez, also received a prison sentence, according to the Department of Justice.

“Gzuniga was ordered to forfeit all handbags and other previously seized products, banned for three years from any activities involving commercial trade in wildlife, and sentenced to serve three years of probation,” officials said. “Gonzalez was sentenced to 18 months in prison with credit for time served, a supervised release of three years, and required to pay a special assessment. Giraldo was sentenced to time served, approximately 22 months based on his incarceration in Colombia and the United States since his extradition, a year of supervised release, and also required to pay a special assessment.”

Another co-conspirator, John Camilo Aguilar Jaramillo, had previously pleaded guilty on April 8 and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 27, according to authorities.

Gonzalez, Giraldo, and Jaramillo, all Colombian citizens, were extradited to the United States to face the charges brought against them.

The caiman and python species used by the company for making bags are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), to which both the United States and Colombia are signatories. While the trade in caimans and pythons is not entirely banned, it is strictly regulated under CITES rules.

“The United States signed on to CITES in an effort to help protect threatened and endangered species here and abroad from trafficking,” said Assistant Attorney General Todd Kim of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in a statement released by the Department of Justice on Monday. “We will not tolerate illegal smuggling. We appreciate the efforts of our many federal and international partners who have helped with the investigation, extradition, and prosecution of this case.”

According to authorities, the conspirators transported "hundreds of designer purses, handbags, and totes into the United States" by enlisting friends, relatives, and even employees of Gonzalez’s manufacturing company in Colombia. They carried the designer handbags themselves or placed them in their luggage while traveling on passenger airlines.

Once the merchandise arrived in the United States, the bags were either delivered or shipped to the Gzuniga showroom in New York for display and sale.

“The United States, along with the international community, has established a system to oversee the trafficking of protected species of wildlife. This system relies on permits and oversight by numerous agencies and requires strict compliance by all involved in such trade,” said U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida. “The pressures of business, production deadlines, or other economic factors are not excuses for knowingly disregarding the system and attempting to create exceptions to wildlife trafficking laws. In collaboration with our international partners, our Office will continue to enforce strict adherence to laws protecting endangered species.”

An indictment charged Gzuniga, Gonzalez, Giraldo, and Jaramillo with one count of conspiracy and two counts of smuggling for illegally importing designer handbags made from caiman and python skin from February 2016 to April 2019.