A mother-and-son pair of admitted wildlife smugglers will each be spending more than a year in federal prison for their roles in a multispecies endeavor.
Raymond Anthony Rabago Montoya, 23, of Phoenix was sentenced earlier this month to 12 months and one day in prison. His mother, Griselda Guadalupe Montoya-Gastelum, 50, of Sonora, Mexico, was previously sentenced to 18 months in prison.
Both will also face three years of supervised release following their incarceration. Both pleaded guilty to a single wildlife-related charge, following a Fish and Wildlife Service investigation of a smuggling operation that prosecutors say involved tigers, panthers, monkeys and exotic parrots into the United States.
“Wildlife trafficking is illegal and immoral, as countless animals that are taken from the wild are smuggled across borders in inhumane conditions,” Edward Grace, assistant director of the FWS Office of Law Enforcement, said in a statement Wednesday.