Man gets probation for smuggling snakes on planes
TYLER, Texas » An East Texas man had snakes on the planes, but he won’t have time in a prison.
A federal judge today sentenced William Wylly Lamar in Tyler to three years of probation. That’s after the 63-year-old Tyler eco-tourism guide pleaded guilty in June to importing wildlife taken in violation of foreign law.
Lamar admitted smuggling snakes on several planes from Peru to the United States. Prosecutors say he ought the seven live snakes in August 2012 in a market in Lima, Peru, and smuggled them in his jacket on flights from Lima to Miami, then to Dallas.
Game wardens seized the snakes from Lamar’s home in Tyler. Peruvian law prohibits the exportation of wild live animals coming from the forest or jungle unless the exporter has the proper paperwork.