Man gets 3-year prison term for stealing endangered monkey

Wednesday, February 27, 2002 
(02-27) 06:13 PST SHREVEPORT, La. (AP) -- 

A Las Vegas man who admitted stealing a monkey last year and trading the 
animal for crack cocaine and marijuana has been sentenced to three years 
and six months in prison. 

Robert Bradford Mills, 34, withdrew his former plea of not guilty and 
pleaded guilty to felony theft. State District Judge Eugene Bryson Jr. 
sentenced Mills on Monday. 

The sentence was due in part to Mills' lengthy criminal history in Florida 
and the fact that the African spot-nosed guenon he stole is an endangered 
species, Assistant District Attorney Alex Washington said. 

Gwendolyn, the 5-year-old monkey worth about $7,000, was stolen Oct. 30, 
2001, from a Louisiana State Fair exhibit. 

She was found two days later at an undisclosed location after a 
confidential informant contacted Shreveport police with information on her 
whereabouts in exchange for a $1,000 reward offered by the owner. 

Mills was arrested at the fair, where he was working in the zoo area. 
Booking notes from the Caddo Parish jail stated that he sold Gwendolyn for 
$2,000 in illegal narcotics. 

Mills gave detectives several false versions of how he obtained the 
monkey, according to court documents. 
 
Copyright 2002 Associated Press