Published
|
Updated
NEW YORK – A New York City woman who was caught smuggling monkey meat through Customs has been sentenced to probation.
Mamie Manneh was arrested in 2006 after agents seized a shipment of dozens of primate parts hidden in a batch of smoked fish.
The boxes included the skulls, limbs and torsos of monkeys and baboons. She was charged with smuggling endangered species.
Manneh's lawyers argued that she and other African immigrants on Staten Island needed the meat for religious reasons.
The judge ultimately rejected that defense but gave Manneh a lenient sentence because she has 11 children and is mentally ill.
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox
Arrives Weekdays