Reptile & Amphibian Forums

NEWS 12 (Woodbury, New York) 19 September 13 Authorities: Richard Parrinello ran snake-breeding business SnakeMan's Exotics from Shirley home
Shirley: Authorities say a Shirley man was running a snake-breeding business out of his home.
Officials found 850 snakes, including illegal Burmese pythons, three tarantulas, three boxes of small spiders and a freezer filled with between 500 and 1,000 frozen mice in Richard Parrinello's garage.
Brookhaven Deputy Town Attorney David Moran says Parrinello, a town animal control officer, was being investigated for workers’ compensation fraud. Moran says surveillance showed that Parrinello had been running a business out of his home without the proper permits.
The business is called SnakeMan's Exotics, and according to its website, it breeds snakes and sells them around the world. Parrinello's LinkedIn profile says he has been running the business for the past 12 years.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the DEC, the SPCA and the town are all now part of the investigation.
Officials say it appears Parrinello was caring for the reptiles. They say they were not harmed in any way.
Authorities say Parrinello will face some misdemeanor charges for possessing the Burmese pythons, as well as a number of town code violations.
http://longisland.news12.com/news/authorities-richard-parrinello-ran-snake-breeding-business-snakeman-s-exotics-from-shirley-home-1.6105613

LONG ISLAND PRESS (Farmingdale, New York) 19 September 13 850 Snakes Seized from Brookhaven Worker’s Shirley Home (Timothy Bolger)
Authorities seized about 850 exotic snakes worth $500,000 during a raid on the Shirley home of a Brookhaven town animal control officer suspected of workman’s compensation fraud on Thursday afternoon, officials said.
Richard Parrinello allegedly sells pythons and boa constrictors out of a garage at his Auborn Avenue home through his website, SnakeMansExotics.com.
“What makes this case especially egregious is that this individual was allegedly operating this reptile business out of his home, posing an unknown threat to the neighbors of this community – while collecting a taxpayer funded salary for a town job that he claimed he could not show up for because of medical reasons,” said Brookhaven Supervisor Ed Romaine.
The raid was a joint operation between the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Suffolk County police, the Suffolk SPCA and Brookhaven town investigators, officials said.
The house of snakes was discovered during an undercover investigation prompted by an anonymous tip regarding an illegal garage.
Charges are pending against the 44-year-old man, who was slapped with two violations by the DEC.
The raid comes three weeks after authorities held their second Long Island Reptile Amnesty Day designed to counter more than a dozen baby alligators found in Nassau and Suffolk counties over the past year.
http://www.longislandpress.com/2013/09/19/850-snakes-seized-from-brookhaven-workers-shirley-home/

NEWSDAY (New York, New York) 20 September 13 Snake salesman given until Monday to cooperate (Carl MacGowan )
A Brookhaven employee found with more than 850 snakes and exotic animals at his Shirley home has been given until Monday to decide whether he'll cooperate with authorities -- or face losing his reptiles.
Deputy town attorney David Moran said he will seek a State Supreme Court order to remove the snakes if Richard Parrinello does not meet with town officials.
Authorities on Thursday removed two 6-foot Burmese pythons, which are illegal in New York without a permit, from the two-car garage at the home of the 44-year-old animal control officer.
Most snakes in Parrinello's garage are legal to own, but town officials said he violated town codes by operating his reptile-sales business, SnakeMan's Exotics, at his home without a permit.
Moran said the snakes pose a possible safety threat if they escape.
"I would run out to Supreme Court . . . to remove the snakes," Moran said in an interview Friday. "We want to make sure that the animals are protected [and] . . . the public is protected."
The snakes and other creatures, including three tarantulas, were discovered Thursday during a raid that stemmed from an investigation into whether Parrinello had a second job while on disability leave from the town. He faces possible termination from his town job if found to have committed disability fraud.
Town attorney Annette Eaderesto said a state workers' compensation hearing in the disability case is expected in about six weeks. She said Parrinello had been "stealing" from taxpayers by drawing disability pay since May while working a second job.
State authorities have charged Parrinello with having the Burmese pythons and three frozen alligator hatchlings without permits.
Parrinello has declined to comment. Friday, he ordered a news photographer to leave his property.
...
Link