ISAAC, the ring-tailed lemur, was stolen from the Santa Ana Zoo, in California, the U.S., in July 2018 but eventually was recovered unharmed.

The final chapter in the case of the stolen Santa Ana Zoo lemur concluded Monday.

A judge sentenced Aquinas Kasbar, 19, of Newport Beach, to three months in federal prison for stealing Isaac, the oldest ring-tailed lemur in captivity in North America.

Kasbar pleaded guilty in July to unlawfully taking an endangered species, a misdemeanor, and faced up to a year in prison and a fine of up to US$100,000.

He also must pay the Santa Ana Zoo US$8,486 in restitution.

Kasbar broke into the Santa Ana Zoo on July 27, 2018, after it had closed for the day. He used bolt cutters to cut a hole in the zoo’s enclosures for lemurs and capuchin monkeys, enabling several of the animals to escape; they were later recovered.

Kasbar took 33-year-old Isaac to keep as a pet, putting him in a plastic drawer without ventilation holes for the rest of the evening.

The next day, he left the lemur in front of a Marriott hotel in Newport Beach and placed two notes on top of the plastic drawer that read: “Lemur (with tracker)” and “This belongs to the Santa Ana Zoo it was taken last night please bring it to police.”

Isaac eventually was returned to the zoo unharmed.

(SD-Agencies)