Her accessories were used by Britney Spears, the cast of “Sex and the City.”
Celebrity handbag designer Nancy Gonzalez hides under an umbrella as she walks with her lawyer Andrea Lopez outside the federal courthouse Monday, April 22, 2024, in Miami. The Colombian designer, whose bags were purchased by celebrities like Britney Spears and the cast of the"Sex and the City" TV series, was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison on Monday for leading a smuggling ring that illegally imported into the U.S.
Lawyers for Gonzalez sought leniency for the celebrity designer, describing her journey as a divorced single mother of two children who designed belts on a home sewing machine in Cali for friends into a fashion icon who outcompeted the likes of Dior, Prada and Gucci. They also argued that only 1% of the merchandise she imported into the U.S. lacked proper authorization and were samples for New York Fashion week and other events.
Prosecutors countered that Gonzalez had acquired great wealth and an opulent lifestyle, which contrasted with the couriers she recruited to smuggle her merchandise into the United States. The couriers were instructed to say that the items were gifts for their relatives if they were asked any questions by customs agents.
All of the hides were from caiman and pythons bred in captivity. Nonetheless, on some occasions she failed to obtain the proper import authorizations from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, required under a widely ratified international treaty governing the trade in endangered and threatened wildlife species.
Although trade in the skins used by Gonzalez was not prohibited, they came from protected wildlife that requires close monitoring under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, known by its initials as CITES.
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