Jimmy Wayne Hammonds, also known as "The Monkey Whisperer," was sentenced on Feb. 19 to nine months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for conspiring to violate the Lacey Act and trafficking wildlife. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven, according to an announcement by U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe.
Hammonds pleaded guilty in October 2025 after authorities found he continued selling primates and other exotic animals through his business, The Monkey Whisperer, LLC, despite being on federal probation for a previous conviction under the same law.
Court documents show that Hammonds used social media accounts linked to his business to connect with an undercover agent posing as a buyer. After moving their conversation to an encrypted texting app at Hammonds's request, he agreed to sell two common marmosets for $7,400 and arranged for the transaction in Georgia in an attempt to avoid law enforcement oversight.
As part of the sentence, Hammonds must pay a $60,000 fine benefiting the Lacey Act Reward Fund and is banned from possessing, breeding, selling, transporting or exhibiting any wildlife. He also surrendered ownership of 67 animals including various primate species as well as muntjac deer, lemurs, kangaroos, wallabies and otters.
Hammonds’s violation of probation hearing is scheduled for April 2, 2026. The case was investigated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service with help from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
