The handbag designer Nancy Gonzalez built a cult following among celebrities and the South American superrich thanks to her use of brilliantly dyed precious skins.
Now Ms. Gonzalez, 71, is facing considerable time in bright orange coveralls.
On Monday, she was sentenced to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in a Miami federal court to charges of smuggling hundreds of handbags made from the skins of protected wildlife into the United States from her native Colombia.
Prosecutors said that the handbags and purses, made from the hides of caiman alligators and pythons bred in captivity, were worth as much as $2 million.
The designer’s lawyers said that the pieces were mostly samples and cost about $140 each, with only about 1 percent lacking the proper authorization to be brought into the United States.
Persons:
Nancy Gonzalez, Bergdorf Goodman, Gonzalez, Nancy Tereza Gonzalez de Barberi
Organizations:
Saks, Gzuniga, New York, Prosecutors
Locations:
Miami, United States, Colombia, Cali , Colombia