He owned a company called The Monkey Whisperer, LLC., but federal officials say Jimmy Wayne Hammonds wasn’t just whispering to primates – he was illegally breeding and selling them.

According to an unsealed indictment, the 57-year-old from Parrish is charged with conspiracy, trafficking, and submitting a false record in violation of the Lacey Act. That’s a federal law passed in 1900 that bans the importation, exportation, and sale of wildlife that was taken illegally.

The U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Tampa Division, Maria Chapa Lopez, says Hammonds conspired to sell a capuchin monkey to a buyer in California who couldn’t lawfully possess one.

The prosecutor says Hammond also sold endangered cotton-top tamarins to buyers in Alabama, South Carolina, and Wisconsin – and tried to persuade a witness to lie to an officer about it. He’s also accused of submitting false documents to an officer.

According to a news release, Hammonds faces up to 20 years in federal prison on the witness tampering charge, up to five years on each conspiracy and Lacey Act violation charge, and up to one year on each alleged endangered species act violation.