DPP mulls appeal after ‘lenient’ sentence in endangered animal smuggling case
Published:Wednesday | October 1, 2025 | 12:09 AMLivern Barrett/Senior Staff Reporter
The country’s prosecutorial authority is contemplating whether to lodge an appeal against what environmental watchers call a “tap on the back” sentence imposed on three men – two of them Honduran nationals – for smuggling over a dozen endangered animals into Jamaica.
Luis-Harlan Haylock and Galindo Derby Reyes Wood, both of Honduras, and Alvin Ashby, a Jamaican, each pleaded guilty to 16 counts of breaching Section 18 of the Endangered Species (Protection, Conservation and Regulation of Trade) Act 2000 and were sentenced on September 18 to time served or the over four months they were in custody awaiting a trial.
The law provides a maximum penalty of two years in prison or a fine of $2 million.
The men have been in custody since May 7 this year when Jamaican authorities seized at least 16 live and dead exotic animals during an operation along the shoreline in Whitehouse, Westmoreland.
The 16 endangered animals included parrots, different species of monkeys, and two ocelots, according to evidence led in court by prosecutors Rasheed Lee and Dwayne Green.
The ocelots caused a stir after they escaped the makeshift cage in which they had been smuggled.
One environmentalist, who did not want to be named, described the sentence as “lenient” and suggested that the three men are likely pawns in a wider scheme who could have led authorities to the masterminds.
“I just feel like that’s a pat on the back,” the environmentalist told The Gleaner on Tuesday, making reference to the sentence.
“The DPP (director of public prosecutions) could have done some plea bargaining with them to get some information … but by the men not seeing any jail time, you lose your leverage.”
Green, an assistant director of public prosecutions, said the DPP’s office is now reviewing the sentence to determine “whether we are minded to appeal”.
“But that exercise is not yet completed,” he said.
Green acknowledged that sentencing is the sole discretion of the presiding judge but said that the DPP’s office has a duty to conduct a review, taking into account several factors.
Those factors include the interest of justice and the legal precedence in similar cases previously decided by the courts.
According to evidence led in court, the Jamaica Defence Force intercepted a vessel entering Jamaican waters near the shoreline in Whitehouse.
The three men onboard the vessel were taken ashore and a search revealed 16 endangered animals.