OXNARD, Calif. — A California man pleaded guilty to federal charges Wednesday in a wildlife smuggling case that included entering the U.S. with reptiles hidden in his clothes.
More than 1,700 wild animals were illegally imported, most of them brought into the U.S. from Mexico, according to the U.S. attorney’s office. Authorities estimate the smuggled creatures had a total market value of more than $739,000.
Jose Manuel Perez, a 30-year-old Oxnard resident, pleaded guilty to two counts of smuggling goods into the U.S. and one count of wildlife trafficking in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Perez also goes by the alias Julio Rodriguez, prosecutors said.
From early 2016 until February this year, Perez and his accomplices used social media to arrange for smuggling wild critters, primarily reptiles, into the U.S., according to a plea agreement.
Baby crocodiles, Mexican beaded lizards and Yucatan and Mexican box turtles were among the reptiles brought from Mexico and Hong Kong without required permits or customs declarations, prosecutors said.
For the animals smuggled from Mexico, accomplices picked up wildlife at an airport in Ciudad Juárez and drove them by car to El Paso, Texas, according to prosecutors. Accomplices were paid a crossing fee for each trip.
The animals were then shipped to Perez’s home in Ventura County, northwest of Los Angeles. He resold the animals to customers across the country using the alias Julio Rodriguez, authorities said.
Perez also traveled to Mexico himself. He rented a house in Tijuana and crossed into the U.S. at the San Ysidro port of entry in San Diego about 36 times between February 2021 and February 2022.
He was arrested on Feb. 25 while trying to enter the U.S. with 60 reptiles hidden in small bags in his clothing, authorities said. Three of the animals died during the attempt. Border Patrol agents found the reptiles hidden in his jacket, pants pockets and groin area, authorities said.
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Perez was released on bond in May, then removed his ankle bracelet on June 5 and fled to Mexico, prosecutors said, the day before a court hearing. He was apprehended in Mexico on June 16 and returned to the U.S., where he has remained in custody.
He will be sentenced on Dec. 1. He faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each smuggling count and up to five years in federal prison for the wildlife trafficking charge, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
His sister and codefendant, Stephany Perez, 26, of Oxnard, is scheduled to go on trial in the case next February.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service with assistance from the U.S. attorney’s office, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Homeland Security Investigations, prosecutors said.
