{"id":50664,"date":"2022-08-24T16:45:21","date_gmt":"2022-08-24T23:45:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50664"},"modified":"2022-08-24T16:45:58","modified_gmt":"2022-08-24T23:45:58","slug":"man-pleads-guilty-to-wildlife-smuggling-and-trafficking-for-illegally-importing-more-than-1700-animals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cjnotebook.com\/?p=50664","title":{"rendered":"Man Pleads Guilty to Wildlife Smuggling and Illegally Importing More Than 1,700 Animals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"A Ventura County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal criminal charges for illegally importing into the United States more than 1,700 wild animals \u2013 including 60 reptiles found hidden in his clothes earlier this year at the United States-Mexico border, officials stated.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Jose Manuel Perez, a.k.a. \u201cJulio Rodriguez,\u201d 30, of Oxnard, pleaded guilty to two counts of smuggling goods into the United States and one count of wildlife trafficking.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 According to his plea agreement, from January 2016 to February 2022, Perez and his accomplices used social media to arrange for the smuggling of wildlife \u2013 primarily reptiles \u2013 into the United States, typically from Mexico.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Mexican beaded lizard<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The smuggled animals \u2013 which included Yucatan box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles and Mexican beaded lizards \u2013 were imported into the United States from Mexico and Hong Kong without declaring them to U.S. customs officials or obtaining permits required by an international treaty known as the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For the animals smuggled from Mexico, Perez\u2019s accomplices retrieved the wildlife from Cuidad Juarez International Airport in Mexico and smuggled the animals by car to El Paso, Texas. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"whitePerez\u2019s accomplices were paid a \u201ccrossing fee\u201d for each border crossing \u2013 the amount of which depended on the number of animals transported, the size of the package, and the risk of being detected by the authorities.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Perez then had the animals shipped to his family\u2019s residence in Ventura County, where he resold the animals to customers across the United States. <\/span><\/p>\n

Throughout the process, Perez used the alias \u201cJulio Rodriguez\u201d to conceal his involvement in the scheme.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 On other occasions, Perez himself traveled to Mexico to obtain wildlife. He rented a house in Tijuana and\u00a0crossed into the United States from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry approximately 36 times from February 2021 to February 2022. <\/span><\/p>\n

\"Photo:
El Paso Times Photo: Bridge of the Americas<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On February 25, 2022, Perez was arrested while attempting to enter the United States with 60 reptiles on his person, hidden in his clothing in small bags. Three of the reptiles died during his smuggling attempt.<\/span><\/p>\n

On May 16, 2022, Perez was ordered released on bond. On June 5, the day before a court hearing he had requested, Perez removed his ankle bracelet used for court-ordered location monitoring and fled to Tijuana. <\/span><\/p>\n

On June 16, Perez was apprehended in Mexico. Perez was returned to the United States on June 16 and has remained in custody since then.<\/span><\/p>\n

Law enforcement estimates that the wildlife smuggled by Perez had a total market value exceeding $739,000.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 U.S. District Judge Fernando M. Olguin scheduled a Dec. 1 sentencing hearing. If convicted of the charges, Perez faces up to 20 years in federal prison for each smuggling count. Also, he faces up to five years in federal prison for the wildlife trafficking count.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stephany Perez,\u00a0<\/b>26, also of Oxnard, Jose Perez\u2019s sister and co-defendant, is scheduled to go on trial in this case in February 2023.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The United States Fish and Wildlife Service investigated this matter. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Assistant United States Attorneys Matthew W. O\u2019Brien and Brian R. Faerstein of the Environmental and Community Safety Crimes Section and Senior Trial Attorney Gary N. Donner of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department\u2019s Environment and Natural Resources Division are prosecuting this case.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES A Ventura County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal criminal charges for illegally importing into the United States more than 1,700 wild animals \u2013 including 60 reptiles found hidden in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50665,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-u-s-department-of-justice"],"yoast_head":"\nMan Pleads Guilty to Wildlife Smuggling and Illegally Importing More Than 1,700 Animals<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0LOS ANGELES A Ventura County man pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal criminal charges for illegally importing into the United States more than\" \/>\n<meta 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