NIAGARA COUNTY COURT
Canadian pleads guilty to illegal snake swap
LOCKPORT — A Canadian who brought 33 rare rattlesnakes over the border for what he thought was a trade with another snake enthusiast pleaded guilty Friday to a violation of state environmental law.
Emanuele Tesoro, 42, of Waterdown, Ont., admitted to a felony count of illegal commercialization of wildlife for the Oct. 15 swap with a man who turned out to be an undercover state Department of Environmental Conservation officer.
Although Assistant Attorney General Paul F. McCarthy recommended a fine, Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperrazza could give Tesoro a prison sentence of up to four years. She will make her decision Sept. 11.
The snake sting occurred in the parking lot of the Fashion Outlets Mall on Military Road in the Town of Niagara.
Tesoro, who brought 33 Eastern Massasauga rattlesnakes across the border in bags hidden in his van, received $1,100 and five timber rattlesnakes from the DEC officer, who had made arrangements through the Internet to meet Tesoro. After the deal was done, the officer identified himself and arrested Tesoro.
Tesoro already has pleaded guilty in a Canadian court in connection with a May 28, 2008, incident in which Canadian customs caught him with timber and copperhead rattlesnakes as he crossed the border at Niagara Falls. He was sentenced in Ontario to 90 days in jail, served on weekends, and a $6,000 fine.
On that occasion, he traded two of the rare Eastern Massasauga snakes and a spotted turtle for the timber snakes and copperheads.
Tesoro also faces U. S. smuggling charges, which will be handled in U. S. District Court in Buffalo, McCarthy said. The penalty there is expected to include forfeiture of his van.
In another cross-border case Friday, Sperrazza sentenced a man to time previously served—about 20 days—to dispose of an 11-year-old drunken driving case.
Vernon W. Harris, 62, of Niagara Falls, Ont., pleaded guilty to driving while impaired and was sentenced on the spot. The time was served after his arrest Sept. 16, 1998, in Niagara Falls, where Harris then was living.
He was indicted on a felony DWI charge — his blood-alcohol content had been measured at 0.32 percent—but after his arraignment, he made bail and didn’t return to court.
Court officials said that as a Native American, Harris can cross the international border freely, and he did, almost daily. Once, he was even told by a border guard about the failure-to-appear warrant, but he didn’t take care of the matter until a few months ago.
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