Celebrity handbag designer sentenced to 18 months in prison for smuggling crocodile handbags

Gonzalez, addressing the court before sentencing, said she deeply regretted not meticulously complying with US laws and that her only wish is to hug once more her 103-year-old mother

Celebrity handbag designer Nancy Gonzalez hides under and umbrella as she walks with her lawyer Andrea Lopez outside the federal courthouse in Miami on Monday. Picture: AP Photo/Josh Goodman

A leading fashion designer whose accessories were used by celebrities from Britney Spears to the cast of the Sex and the City TV series was sentenced Monday to 18 months in prison after pleading guilty in Miami federal court on charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia.

Nancy Gonzalez was arrested in 2022 in Cali, Colombia, and later extradited to the US for running a sprawling multiyear conspiracy that involved recruiting couriers to transport her handbags on commercial flights to high-end showrooms and New York fashion events — all in violation of US wildlife laws.