BUFFALO, N.Y. – A Mississauga, Ont., resident who was caught trying to sneak snakes into Canada in his socks has pleaded guilty.
Federal prosecutors in Buffalo, N.Y., say 28-year-old Chaoyi Le faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty Tuesday to violating wildlife regulations. Sentencing is set for Oct. 30.
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He was arrested in 2014 at the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in western New York after Canadian border agents discovered three live albino western hognose snakes hidden in his socks.
At first, Le said he’d found them in a New York park, but eventually admitted buying them.
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Authorities say Le, a Chinese citizen who lives in Mississauga, was trying to avoid a U.S. Fish and Wildlife inspection.
Court documents say that on the same day, Le also mailed several snakes from New York to China.