Man Hides 850 Snakes Worth Half A Million dollars At Home

SHIRLEY, N.Y. — An animal-control officer had
hundreds of snakes, including two 6-foot Burmese
pythons, at his home, where he ran an illegal side
business selling them, authorities said Thursday.
There were 850 snakes worth half a million dollars in
a detached garage at the Shirley home of Richard
Parrinello, including the Burmese pythons, which are
illegal in New York state, officials said.
“There is a reason why Burmese pythons are illegal,”
said Suffolk County SPCA Chief Roy Gross, citing the
deaths of two young boys in New Brunswick, Canada,
who were killed by an African rock python while they
slept last month.
Gross said Burmese pythons can grow to 30 feet long
and are “an accident waiting to happen.”
Parrinello has worked on and off as an animal-control
officer for the town of Brookhaven since 1988, town
spokesman Jack Krieger said.
Authorities spotted the snakes during an investigation
into whether Parrinello was working while on
disability leave from his town job.
During a weeks-long undercover investigation,
authorities said, investigators caught Parrinello on
camera claiming he had $500,000 in inventory –
including snakes, turtles and turtle eggs – stored in a
garage he’d converted into habitat space.
Parrinello faces multiple charges of owning the
pythons and violating town codes by running a
business at his home without a permit. He was issued
two violations by the state’s Department of
Environmental Conservation.
Authorities said Parrinello is cooperating. A man who
answered the phone at a number listed on
Parrinello’s Snakeman’s Exotics website said he had
no comment.
Gross said the pythons were headed to an animal
sanctuary in Massachusetts. It was unclear what
would be done with the other snakes.