A federal court in Denver has sentenced a Mexican man to two years in prison for his part in an international ring that smuggled endangered sea turtles.
Martin Villegas Terrones pleaded guilty in March to smuggling charges for selling and shipping endangered sea turtle skins and skin products from Mexico to the United States, said the U.S. Department of Justice in a news release Thursday.
Villegas and six other defendants were indicted by a Denver grand jury Aug. 22, 2007, following a three-year international undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service branch of special operations.
The first arrests were made in September 2007 on charges of smuggling the skins of endangered sea turtles and other protected animals for use in making boots, belts and wallets.
More than 700 skins — smuggled from Mexico — were purchased by undercover federal agents from early 2005 through the time of the arrests.
About $60,000 was paid to the suppliers for the skins and products, along with border-crossing fees to the smugglers.
All seven of the defendants arrested as a result of the investigation have pleaded guilty and have been sentenced.
“Seven arrests, seven guilty pleas, and seven prison sentences should send a message to anyone considering smuggling protected wildlife into the United States,” Ronald J. Tenpas, assistant attorney general for the Environment and Natural Resources Division, said in a statement.
Several species of sea turtles are listed as endangered under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.
“Hurt sea turtles, do time,” Troy Eid, U.S. attorney for the District of Colorado, said in a statement.
Others sentenced in the case are: Chinese nationals Fu Yiner and Wang Hong; Mexican nationals Carlos Leal Barragan, Esteban Lopez Estrada and Martin Villegas Terrones; Oscar Cueva of McAllen, Texas; and Jorge Caraveo of El Paso.
Species of sea turtles also are protected by an international treaty signed by the United States, Mexico, China and about 170 other countries.
Importation of sea turtles into the United States for commercial purposes is illegal.
Villegas also has been sentenced to three years of supervised release.
He was a custom bootfitter who ran a business in Mexico named Classic Old West Styles. He made boots for high-profile figures, including former Mexican President Vicente Fox. President Bush accepted a pair of Villegas’ ostrich- skin cowboy boots as a gift during a visit to Fox’s ranch in 2001.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com
