Man sentenced for exotic skins smuggling

DENVER, April 30 (UPI) -- A Mexican national was sentenced in a U.S. court for smuggling skins of protected sea turtles into the United States, the Justice Department said.

Estaban Lopez Estrada was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Denver to 24 months in prison for his role in the sale and smuggling of exotic skins and skin products from sea turtles, caiman, ostrich and lizards into the United States from Mexico, the department said in a news release.

In addition, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release and fined $1,700.

Lopez Estrada and 10 others were indicted in Denver in 2007 following a multi-year undercover operation, the department said. Seven of the 10, including Lopez Estrada, pleaded guilty.

"Today's sentence is ... the result of effective cooperation between the U.S. and Mexican governments in the investigation and prosecution of individuals who unlawfully kill endangered and protected wildlife in Mexico and then illegally smuggle that wildlife into the United States," said Ronald Tenpas, assistant U.S. attorney general for the department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.