Man pleads guilty to taking lemur from California zoo

May 20, 2019

SANTA ANA, Calif. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a man has agreed to plead guilty to stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a Southern California zoo.

The U.S. attorney’s office says in a news release that 19-year-old Aquinas Kasbar of Newport Beach agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species.

According to a plea agreement filed Monday, prosecutors say Kasbar broke into the Santa Ana Zoo after hours on July 27, 2018, cut open an enclosure and took a 32-year-old lemur named Isaac.

The animal was placed in a container with no ventilation and later abandoned at a Newport Beach hotel with notes identifying it as having been taken from the zoo.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, May 20, 2019

Man Who Stole Critically Endangered Ring-Tailed Lemur from Santa Ana Zoo Agrees to Plead Guilty to Federal Criminal Charge

SANTA ANA, California – A man who broke into the Santa Ana Zoo after hours and stole North America’s oldest-living ring-tailed lemur in captivity to keep the endangered animal as a pet has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge.

Aquinas Kasbar, 19, of Newport Beach, has agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species. The charge carries a statutory maximum penalty of one year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine. Kasbar’s initial court appearance has been scheduled for May 28 in United States District Court in Santa Ana.

According to his plea agreement filed today, on July 27, 2018, Kasbar broke into the Santa Ana Zoo after it had closed for the day. While in the zoo, Kasbar used bolt cutters to cut a hole in the zoo’s enclosures for lemurs and capuchin monkeys, which enabled several of the animals to escape, though they were later recovered, according to court documents.

Kasbar admitted in his plea agreement to stealing Isaac, a 32-year-old, ring-tailed lemur (lemur catta), and North America’s oldest ring-tailed lemur in captivity. (The life span of a lemur typically is 20 to 25 years.) The ring-tailed lemur is on a list of the 25 most endangered primates, and ring-tailed lemurs are endangered, in part, because of the illegal pet trade, according to the plea agreement.

After stealing Isaac, Kasbar placed the animal in a plastic drawer that lacked ventilation holes, court papers state. The next day, Kasbar abandoned Isaac in front of a Newport Beach hotel, leaving him in the same plastic drawer with two notes placed on it, which read, “Lemur (with tracker)” and “This belongs to the Santa Ana Zoo it was taken last night please bring it to police,” the plea agreement states. Kasbar’s actions resulted in a loss to the Santa Ana Zoo of approximately $8,486, court papers state.

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