Feb 9, 2008 8:25 pm US/Mountain
6th Guilty Plea Sea Turtle Skin-Smuggling Case
DENVER (AP) ―
A sixth defendant pleaded guilty Friday to smuggling the skins of endangered sea turtles after an investigation that also led to charges against a man who made boots for President Bush and other world leaders.
Esteban Lopez Estrada, a Mexican citizen, pleaded guilty in Denver federal court to smuggling and money laundering charges.
Lopez Estrada was among 11 people indicted in Denver in 2007 after a three-year undercover investigation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
They were accused of smuggling the skins of sea turtles and other exotic leathers into the United States from Mexico.
Prosecutors said Lopez Estrada arranged sales of the skins to U.S. customers through his business, Botas Exoticas Canada Grande in Leon, Mexico. He then arranged to have them smuggled across the border and was paid by wire transfers from Colorado, prosecutors said.
Also indicted in the case was Martin Villegas, a bootmaker from Mexico who made footwear for Bush and former Mexican President Vicente Fox. Villegas faced charges of smuggling and money laundering.
Villegas was not among those who have pleaded guilty but the status of his case wasn't immediately available. A Justice Department official did not immediately return an after-hours call.
(© 2009 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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