Man Hide Snakes At Home

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.