Man tried to sneak snakes over border in his socks

ALISON LANGLEY

A Mississauga man who was caught at a Niagara border crossing trying to sneak live snakes into Canada in his socks has pleaded guilty.

U.S. federal prosecutors in Buffalo 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 October.

He was arrested in 2014 at the Queenston-Lewiston Bridge after Canadian border agents discovered three 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.

The snakes were valued at $500.

Court documents say that on the same day, Le also mailed seven ball pythons from New York to China.

The defendant submitted a form falsely declaring that the package contained belts, candy and chocolate with a value of $80.

The ball pythons had an approximate value of $3,300.

The package was recovered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

In addition to the snakes, the package contained cloth bags typically used to hold snakes, hand warmers which are typically used in shipping reptiles, and insulation material. — with files from Associated Press alangley@postmedia.com twitter.com/nfallslangley