Lizards, snakes prompt charges

Kim Smith

Thursday, March 30, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.

A federal grand jury went to the zoo Wednesday, in a manner of speaking.

In addition to hearing cases about bank robberies and illegal aliens, the grand jury was presented two cases involving reptiles. They ended up handing down indictments.

The grand jury indicted Edward Tierney on two different charges of allegedly mailing venomous rattlesnakes to Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

The snakes were mailed in June 1998 and August 1995 despite the fact that Tierney should have known that "said wildlife was transported and sold in violation" of the laws of Nevada and New Hampshire, the indictment states.

In a second case, the grand jury indicted Don D. Astorga on two counts of smuggling for allegedly bringing lizards into the United States from the Philippines last June.

According to the indictment, Astorga imported monitor lizards, a violation of the Endangered Species Act. He also brought 12 other lizards into the country without declaring them to U.S. Customs and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.