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

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 to charges of smuggling crocodile handbags from her native Colombia. Nancy Gonzalez was arrested in 2022 in Colombia and later extradited to the U.S. for running a sprawling multiyear conspiracy that involved recruiting couriers to transport her high-end handbags on commercial flights to high-end showrooms and New York fashion events in violation of U.S. wildlife laws.