Editor/
A New York City man has been charged with smuggling three Burmese pythons in his pants at a U.S-Canadian border crossing.
Calvin Bautista, 36, is accused of bringing the hidden snakes on a bus that crossed into northern New York on July 15, 2018. Importation of Burmese pythons is regulated by an international treaty and by federal regulations listing them as “injurious to human beings.”
Bautista, of Queens, was arraigned Tuesday in Albany on the federal smuggling charge and released pending trial, according to a news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman.
An email seeking comment was sent to Bautista’s lawyer.
The charge carries the potential for a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine as high as $250,000, according to federal prosecutors.
The Burmese python, one of the world’s largest snakes, is considered a vulnerable species in its native Asia and is invasive in Florida, where it threatens native animals.
0Segun Atanda with AP/ After a career spanning 70 years, Quincy Delight Jones, Jr., the…
Segun Atanda/ The presidency has hit back at former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, dismissing his…
By Mohamed Malick Fall/ The indescribable destruction caused by the first and second world wars…
Segun Atanda/ Kemi Badenoch has been elected the new UK Conservative leader. The former business…
Segun Atanda/ The Federal High Court in Lagos has stripped former Central Bank of Nigeria…
Segun Atanda/ The Police in Ogun have dismantled a notorious kidnapping syndicate that left residents…