A rural Agency woman was ordered Monday afternoon to serve shock time for receiving two stolen exotic monkeys early last year.
Lisa Shinkle must spend 20 days in the Buchanan County Jail for a guilty conviction of receiving the pigtailed macaques in spring 2008. Circuit Judge Pat Robb also ordered Mrs. Shinkle to serve three years’ supervised probation for felony receiving stolen property. Mr. Robb suspended imposition of a one-year term in the county jail and ordered Mrs. Shinkle to serve the sentences concurrently for each of her convictions.
“You threw your lot with people you knew,” Mr. Robb said in previewing the sentence. “You chose to help somebody in a criminal enterprise.”
A jury found Mrs. Shinkle guilty of the offenses in a late-July trial. Prosecutors said the monkeys were given to her and her husband, Michael K. Shinkle, by Cathy M. Montes of Kansas City. Ms. Montes was accused of taking the animals — Abby and Nicholas — and another
macaque, Melissa, who has not been recovered, in the fall of 2007. A Jackson County case against Ms. Montes was dropped, although restitution was ordered.
Mr. Robb said Mrs. Shinkle had false registration for the monkeys and offered false accounts to investigators.
“It’s not really clear to the court why you did it,” he said.
Mrs. Shinkle at first shook her head no when Mr. Robb asked her if she had anything to say, then began to speak.
“I have my own monkeys,” she said, referring to two primates she will be allowed to keep in her home. “I don’t need any other monkeys. I just trusted the wrong people.”
Public Defender Christopher Belts said his client deserved probation due to her lack of a record and several health issues.
“Maybe she’s too trusting at times,” he said.
Assistant Prosecutor Kate Schaefer said the case has ramifications for all exotic monkey owners — many of whom have been following its progress in court.
“This case is not something that happens every day,” she said. “She still does not take responsibility for what she did ... She knew these monkeys very well ... I don’t think she’ll hesitate to do this again.”
The monkeys’ owner, Dana Savorelli of rural Jackson County, issued a victim impact statement in which he thanked investigators and the court. He operates a preserve near Kansas City where he cares for exotic animals that have been abandoned.
“They can grieve themselves to death when separated,” Mr. Savorelli told the court. “This is a simple case of what goes around comes around ... This has been time-consuming, ridiculous and expensive.”
Ray Scherer can be reached
at rscherer@npgco.com.
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