Brown Paper Packages
You've heard of snail mail ... here's snake mail
Friday, December 8, 2000
LAS VEGAS � Sending stuff via e-mail and snail mail is fine. Using snake
mail, on the other hand, isn't.
Edward Tierney, 73, was found guilty Tuesday of two misdemeanors for
mailing a venomous rattlesnake to an undercover law-enforcement officer in
Pennsylvania.
The charges included one count of unlawfully mailing an injurious article
and one count of violating the Lacey Act, which makes it a crime to
knowingly transport or sell wildlife in interstate commerce in a manner
that violates state law.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of one year in custody.
Tierney was accused of violating Nevada law by transporting and selling a
rattlesnake without the permission of the Nevada Department of Wildlife.
Robert Croll, an officer with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission who
was posing as a customer, paid $204 for two rattlesnakes after responding
to an ad Tierney placed on the Internet last year.
Tierney mailed the first snake to Croll in a small cardboard box on Aug. 5,
1999, evidence showed. Two more followed.
Tierney will be sentenced March 6. Public defender Rene Valladares his
client plans to appeal.
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