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1 year ago
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Luxury designer Nancy Gonzalez, who sold handbags worth thousands of dollars to celebrities including Britney Spears, Kris Jenner and Victoria Beckham, has pleaded guilty to federal charges of illegally importing python and caiman skins into the US.
Gonzalez, a Colombian citizen in her 70s, was extradited to the US from Colombia earlier this year after she was indicted by US officials for charges of smuggling the skins of protected animals, as well as a conspiracy charge.
She was seen grinning at photographers as she was escorted by Interpol officers onto a private jet from Bogota, Colombia, to Florida.
Her attorney, Sam Rabin of Rabin & Lopez, said on Monday that she pleaded guilty 'directly to the judge rather than negotiate with prosecutors' as she did not feel she would've been treated fairly by the Department of Justice, which brought the charges.
'She has faith in our courts but not in the Department of Justice and its prosecutors who have treated her most unfairly.
'They took the equivalent of an elephant gun to a mosquito when a fly swatter would have sufficed.'
Nancy Gonzalez (pictured) was arrested and extradited from Colombia to the US for smuggling illegal animal skins to turn into luxury handbags
Gonzalez's bags were often featured in the hit TV show Sex and the City
Britney Spears (pictured, right) was also a fan of Nancy Gonzalez's bags
Victoria Beckham (pictured) was seen carrying one of Gonzalez's bags
Gonzalez sold her wares to the upper echelons of Hollywood society, with major names including Victoria Beckham, Britney Spears, Selma Hayek and Kris Jenner, all seen sporting her expensive bags.
Her bags also made several appearances in Sex and the City, and were also part of an exhibition at the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2008.
She began selling her products 'at over 300 luxury retailers around the world, including Bergdorf Goodman, Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Harrod's, Tsum, Lane Crawford, Net-a-Porter, to name a few,' her website previously read.
Her website now links to a Thai sports betting site.
An indictment against her, her company and two other individuals, filed by DoJ officials claimed that between 2016 and 2019 , she conspired to 'clandestinely import into the United States from Colombia products produced from protected species of wildlife, in violation of federal law, thereby enriching themselves upon the sale of the contraband products in the United States.'
Nancy Gonzalez seen here in handcuffs in July 2022 after being arrested by authorities in Cali, Colombia for smuggling endangered crocodile and snake skin bags into the US
Gonzalez's satchels would sell for up to $10,000 each and have been sold in high-end department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman
Gonzalez was extradited to the U.S. to face charges of violating an international agreement on the importation of endangered animal products
Gonzalez's satchels would sell for up to $10,000 each and have been sold in high-end department stores including Saks Fifth Avenue and Bergdorf Goodman
Gonzalez started out by making belts and transitioned to handbags in the late 1990s following a trip to New York, when she was encouraged by a designer store executive to build up a collection
The indictment listed 24 separate trips taken by mules and paid for by her company that were used to smuggle over 200 purses and handbags made with python and caiman without a permit.
This was in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), which lists both python and caiman as protected species.
The indictment said that the mules were instructed to tell border security guards that the bags were gifts for relatives, if they were questioned.
But the bags were instead displayed at a glitzy New York City showroom, where they were sold to department stores and private clients for at least $2,000 and up to $10,000 each.
Gonzalez was reportedly in possession of several python-skin handbags and even a football made of caiman skin when she was arrested at her home in Colombia in July 2022.
An investigation by Colombian and European authorities found she illegally acquired the skins of endangered animals, including snakes and deer, with the intention of turning them into high-end fashion items.
Colombian fashion designer Nancy Gonzalez, 78, is seen smirking at the camera as she is extradited at El Dorado International Airport in Bogota back to the United States
Gonzalez now faces up to five years in prison on the conspiracy charge, while she faces up to 20 years on each of the smuggling charges, which could then be followed by a period of supervised release.
She also faces fines of up to $250,000 for each count, or twice the intended gain for the illegal conduct, depending on which is greater.
On top of this, the business she ran, Gzuniga Ltd., could be fined up to half a million dollars for each of the three counts, or twice the intended profit from the illegal activity.
Gonzalez, along with the other defendants, entered their guilty pleas on Friday in the Southern District of Florida, and are due back in court for sentencing in February.
An additional defendant in the case was also extradited from Colombia and is awaiting trial. A fourth defendant is not currently in custody.
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