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W von Papineäu
at Tue Jul 22 12:01:23 2008 [ Email Message ] [ Show All Posts by W von Papineäu ]
WLEX (Lexington, Kentucky) 22 July 08 Pastor Gets Plea Deal In Snakes Case
A Bell County pastor accused of illegally buying, selling and owning venomous snakes has agreed to a plea deal that will keep him out of prison.
Gregory Coots entered a guilty plea in a Bell County courtroom Tuesday morning to seven counts of buying, selling or transporting protected wildlife .. as well as another count of holding protected wildlife. He will have to pay $6,400 in fines and will be on probation for 2 years.
Wildlife officers say they removed 60 snakes from Coots' house earlier this month, including copperheads, cottonmouths, cobras, rattlesnakes and an adder.
Coots heads the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro. Worshippers sometimes handle poisonous snakes.
The Associated Press reports that in 1995 a woman from Tennessee died when a snake bit her during a service at Coots' church. Pastor Gets Plea Deal In Snakes Case
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