Sock Snake Smuggler Pleads Guilty In Buffalo

BUFFALO, NY — A Chinese citizen who lives in Ontario pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle snakes in his socks into Canada via the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge in Niagara County. Chaoyi Le, 28, pleading guilty Tuesday to violating wildlife regulations and now faces up to five years in prison, federal prosecutors in Buffalo said.

He was arrested in 2014 at the western New York bridge after Canadian border agents found three living albino western hognose snakes concealed in his socks. Le initially said he found them in a park but later changed his story to say he bought them.

Le, who lives in Mississauga, Ontario, was trying to avoid a U.S. Fish and Wildlife inspection, authorities said. On the same day, Le also mailed several snakes from New York to China, court documents said. (For more information on serpent smuggling case and other Buffalo-area stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Sentencing is set for Oct. 30.

Photo credit: Bruce Smith/Associated Press (A giant hognose snake is seen in its enclosure)