The defense of the renowned designer Nancy González de Barberi began to file legal mechanisms after his capture, last Thursday in Cali (Colombia), for the purpose of extradition to USA.
The so-called designer of international jet set leather bags She is facing criminal proceedings in a Florida federal court for allegedly having illegally introduced dozens of her expensive bags into that country, which can exceed $10,000 each.
EL TIEMPO revealed how Paola Soto, an old collaborator of the designer, was captured in Miami and ended up becoming a witness for the authorities after paying two years in jail and reaching a collaboration agreement.
To this are added dozens of emails, follow-up videos and testimonials that would show that the designer knew how a network of people who received training and payments worked. to smuggle expensive leather goods through commercial flights pretending they were gifts and samples for shops and displays.
This conduct may represent González a severe sentence and fine that appears in one of the sections of the indictment, in the hands of EL TIEMPO.
The sentence and the fine
Indeed, the official document states that the designer can be sentenced to a sentence of up to 20 years for the crime of smuggling goods. In addition, an additional 5 years in prison are contemplated for the crime of conspiracy, for sending accessories of the exclusive brand through human mail.
American investigators determined that, between 2016 and 2019, the designer and two of her collaborators sent -through human mail- handbags, purses and wallets made with the skin of exotic animals such as alligators, babillas and snakes.
To this is added the millionaire fine that the designer’s company in New York must cover: Gzuniga LTD, founded in New York in 2007. For the crimes indicated, the firm would have to pay a fine of one million dollars.
Although it may be a low sum compared to the cost of the bags, in Colombia the designer’s company is in financial trouble. In fact, she was seized last December balances in bank accounts for more than 1,700 million pesos.
Against this background, the family of the renowned designer is considering exploring a possible rapprochement with justice in the United States, which had even been explored for months.
Meanwhile, in Colombia they seek his freedom due to his age (77 years) and the fact that he is a person without criminal record or blemish.
On Sunday, three days after his capture, they filed a habeas corpus. But as revealed EL TIEMPO, this Monday an administrative court denied it, as inadmissible. There, irregularities were alleged in the procedure that triggered his capture.