A high-end handbag designer whose products have been seen on Victoria Beckham and Britney Spears has been jailed for smuggling reptile skins into the US.
Nancy Gonzalez, whose creations have been worn in productions including Sex and The City and The Devil Wears Prada, was sentenced to 18 months in prison in Miami on Monday.
Gonzalez, a 71-year-old Colombian, broke an international treaty by illegally importing bags made from caimans and pythons.
While the trade in both reptiles is not banned, it is strictly regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites).
Both Colombia and the US are signatories to the multinational treaty.
Nancy Gonzalez was arrested in Cali, Colombia in 2022 and extradited to the US from El Dorado airport in Bogota, Aug 2023
Rather than securing the requisite import permits, US officials said the designer enlisted friends, staff and relatives to transport hundreds of luxury handbags on passenger flights into the country.
They were then delivered to the showrooms of Gonzalez’s company, Gzuniga, in New York, where high-end retailers could purchase them for resale in their stores.
Gonzalez was arrested in Cali, Colombia, in 2022 and extradited to the US to face the charges last August.
She pleaded guilty in November to illegally importing handbags made from caiman and python skins between February 2016 and April 2019.
The purses, clutches and wallets by Gonzalez typically sell for thousands of dollars apiece.
Her celebrity clientele included Salma Hayek, Spears and Beckham.
None of the famous faces who have sported her designs are reported to have bought the smuggled handbags.
Purses, clutches and wallets by Gonzalez typically sell for thousands of dollars apiece
Credit: MIAMI HERALD
Nancy Gonzalez’s designs have featured in Sex and the City, and The Devil Wears Prada
Credit: BOBBY BANK/WIREIMAGE
Some of her designs were also included in an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2008.
According to Women’s Wear Daily, the bags were at one time also sold in luxury stores such as Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Harrods.
Gonzalez told the court in Miami court on Monday: “Under pressure I made poor decisions.
“From the bottom of my heart, I apologise to the United States of America,” she said. “I never intended to offend a country to which I owe immense gratitude.”
Her sentence will be reduced as she has already served 14 months in prison following her arrest.
Edward Grace of the US Fish and Wildlife Service, said: “This investigation uncovered a multi-year scheme that involved paid couriers smuggling undeclared handbags made of Cites-protected reptile skins into the US to be sold for thousands of dollars.
“The Service will continue to seek justice for protected species exploited for profit, and we will hold accountable those who seek to circumvent international controls meant to regulate their sustainable trade.”
