LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Southern California man who smuggled five monitor lizards into the U.S. - two of which died - will spend six months under house arrest.
City News Service says Gayle Simpson was sentenced Thursday in Los Angeles federal court.
The 34-year-old Inglewood resident pleaded guilty in September to smuggling monitor lizards that were shipped from the Philippines.
The animals were in a box labeled “speakers” that were addressed to Simpson’s son. Two of the lizards arrived dead and another had a crushed foot.
The lizards are protected under an international agreement which aims to ensure that international trade in wild animal and plant specimens doesn’t threaten their survival.
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