This undated photo provided by the Santa Ana Zoo shows a ring-tailed lemur at the Santa Ana Zoo in Santa Ana, Calif. Federal prosecutors say a man has agreed to plead guilty in the theft of the ring-tailed lemur from the Southern California zoo. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 19-year-old Aquinas Kasbar of Newport Beach agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species. (Santa Ana Zoo via AP)

Man pleads guilty to taking lemur from California zoo

By The Associated Press May 20, 2019 at 1:18pm

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.

Media reported that Isaac wasn’t hurt and was returned home.

A telephone listing for Kasbar couldn’t be located. He appears in court May 28.

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