BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) - Federal prosecutors in western New York say a 28-year-old man has been fined $5,000 for mailing live snakes to China.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Buffalo says Chaoyi Le, of Shanghai, China, sent seven ball pythons from Amherst, New York to China in 2014 using a fake name and labeling the package “belts, candy and chocolate.” The package was intercepted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Le was convicted of federal Lacey Act false labeling. In addition to the fine, U.S. District Judge Frank Geraci on Monday ordered Le to pay $3,500 in restitution to the Fish and Wildlife Service.
His lawyer, Victor Sherman of Los Angeles, said Le will return to China on Tuesday and “wishes to apologize to the American people for his actions.”
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