Man gets prison for stealing lemur from California zoo
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This May 2019 photo provided by the Santa Ana Zoo, shows 32-year-old Isaac, the oldest captive ring-tailed lemur in North America, in Santa Ana, Calif. Aquinas Kasbar, 19, of Newport Beach, Calif., who admitted stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a Southern California zoo, was sentenced to three months in federal prison Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. (Santa Ana Zoo via AP)FILE - This undated file booking photo, provided by the Orange County District Attorney's Office, shows Aquinas Kasbar, 19, of Newport Beach, Calif. Kasbar, who admitted stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a Southern California zoo, was sentenced to three months in federal prison Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. (Orange County District Attorney's Office via AP, File)
This May 2019 photo provided by the Santa Ana Zoo, shows 32-year-old Isaac, the oldest captive ring-tailed lemur in North America, in Santa Ana, Calif. Aquinas Kasbar, 19, of Newport Beach, Calif., who admitted stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a Southern California zoo, was sentenced to three months in federal prison Monday, Oct. 28, 2019. (Santa Ana Zoo via AP)
SANTA ANA, CA – A man who admitted stealing a ring-tailed lemur from a Southern California zoo has been sentenced to three months in federal prison.
Aquinas Kasbar of Newport Beach on Monday was also ordered to pay more than $8,000 in restitution to the Santa Ana Zoo. The 19-year-old pleaded guilty in July to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species.
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In a plea agreement, Kasbar acknowledged that he broke into the zoo, cut a hole in an enclosure and took 32-year-old Isaac, the oldest captive ring-tailed lemur in North America.
The animal was placed in a container with no ventilation and later abandoned at a hotel with notes identifying it as having been taken from the zoo.
It was returned unharmed.
Ring-tailed lemurs are native to Madagascar and among the 25 most endangered primates.
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