Carlos Leal Barragan was arrested in September after an undercover investigation by the US Fish and Wildlife Service on illegal sales of sea turtle parts from China and Mexico.

For many years, the family of Leal Barragan, of Ciudad Guzman, Mexico, bought sea turtles from fishermen and tanned their hides to sell them to boot makers in Mexico and the United States.

Leal Barragan sent three shipments worth 30,000 dollars containing about 360 sea turtle skin pieces as well as boots, belts and shoes from Mexico to undercover Fish and Wildlife agents in Colorado last year, the US Department of Justice said.

In addition to the jail term, a district court in Colorado gave Leal Barragan three years of supervised release.

Poachers kill the ocean creatures for their shell, meat, skin and eggs despite a ban on their sale by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Fauna and Flora, also known as the CITES treaty.

Five of the seven known sea turtle species are listed as endangered by the United States.

Killing sea turtles, taking their eggs and selling products made from the creatures has been illegal in Mexico, where six of the seven species are found, since 1990.

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