A 19-year-old California man who broke into the Santa Ana Zoo and stole an endangered lemur signed a plea agreement on Monday, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).

Aquinas Kasbar of Newport Beach agreed to plead guilty to one misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species — a federal criminal charge — and could face up to one year in prison and a $100,000 fine, the DOJ wrote in a release.

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Kasbar broke into the zoo after hours on July 27, 2018, according to the plea agreement. Using bolt cutters, he made a hole in the fence that enclosed lemurs and capuchin monkeys, allowing several animals to escape — but they were later recovered.

Kasbar stole Isaac, North America’s oldest living ring-tailed lemur in captivity, and planned to keep him as a pet, the release read.

DOJ: A man who broke into the Santa Ana Zoo after hours and stole North America’s oldest-living ring-tailed lemur in captivity to keep the endangered animal as a pet has agreed to plead guilty to a federal criminal charge.



Here is Isaac, the 32-year-old lemur: pic.twitter.com/gQfLheL3cv — Tom Namako (@TomNamako) May 20, 2019

Ring-tailed lemurs are among the 25 most endangered primates — in part because of the illegal pet trade — and typically live between 20 and 25 years. Isaac is 32 years old.

After he took Isaac, Kasbar put him in a plastic drawer without ventilation holes, the DOJ said. The next day, Kasbar abandoned the animal, still in the plastic drawer, in front of a Newport Beach hotel.

On the drawer were two notes: “Lemur (with tracker)” and “This belongs to the Santa Ana Zoo it was taken last night please bring it to police.”

Court documents say the incident cost the zoo more than $8,000.

Kasbar's initial court appearance is scheduled in Santa Ana on May 28.