Snake Smuggler Pleads Guilty in Tyler
Posted/updated on: June 20, 2013 at 2:08 am
TYLER — An Eco-tourism guide, appearing in Tyler federal court, has pleaded guilty to smuggling live snakes. William Lamar, 63, pleaded guilty to an Information charging him with importing wildlife taken in violation of foreign law when he appeared Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge John D. Love. Lamar faces up to five years in federal prison at sentencing. A sentencing date has not been set.
Federal prosecutors contend, on August 29, 2012, Lamar imported seven live snakes that he had purchased at a market in Lima, Peru. Lamar smuggled the snakes in his jacket on flights from Lima to Miami, Florida and then to Dallas/Ft. Worth International Airport. The next day, after TSA agents refused to let him board a commuter plane to Tyler with the snakes, Lamar traveled aboard a ground transport shuttle from DFW to his home in Tyler. Game Wardens went to Lamar’s residence and seized the snakes.
Peruvian law prohibits the exportation of wild live animals coming from the forest or jungle region unless the exporter has a properly issued ministerial order authorizing the export for either scientific investigation or for cultural diffusion. Lamar admitted that he knew that Peruvian law prohibited the unauthorized exportation of wildlife in a jacket without proper authorization.
