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Man caught with snakes in his socks pleads guilty

Man caught with snakes in his socks pleads guilty
Posted at 11:21 AM, Oct 04, 2017
and last updated 2017-10-04 11:21:30-04

A man who was caught trying to sneak snakes into Canada in his socks has pleaded guilty.

Federal prosecutors in Buffal, New York, say 28-year-old Chaoyi Le faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty yesterday to violating wildlife regulations.

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. Authorities say Le was trying to avoid a U.S. Fish and Wildlife inspection.

Court documents also say that on the same day, Le mailed several snakes from New York to China.