Southern California teen sentenced to 6 months in prison for smuggling Bengal tiger cub into US

The 6-week-old cub was found on the passenger-side floor in the teen's car at a San Diego border checkpoint last year.|
ASSOCIATED PRESS
BY ASSOCIATED PRESS

SAN DIEGO - A California teen has been sentenced to six months in prison for smuggling in a Bengal tiger cub from Mexico.

The defense attorney for 18-year-old Luis Valencia told the court Tuesday in San Diego before his sentencing that his client had had a lapse in judgment and wanted the endangered tiger as a pet.

But prosecutors argued Valencia's cellphone data showed he was running an animal smuggling business and boasted about getting thousands for monkeys, jaguars and lions.

The 6-week-old cub was found on the passenger-side floor in Valencia's car in August at a San Diego border checkpoint.

Tigers are endangered and it's illegal to import them without a permit.

The tiger cub was named Moka and now lives at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park

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