A California man was sentenced May 28 to more than five years in prison for smuggling at least 1,700 reptiles into the United States from Mexico, Hong Kong, and other foreign countries over the course of six years, federal prosecutors said.
Jose Manuel Perez, 34, of Oxnard, Calif., pleaded guilty in August 2022 to one count of smuggling goods into the United States and one count of wildlife trafficking.
