Northeast
New York man who smuggled pythons into the US by hiding them in his pants sentenced to probation, fined $5k
A New York City man was sentenced on Wednesday to one year of probation and fined $5,000 for smuggling Burmese pythons into the U.S. from Canada in 2018.
Calvin Bautista, 38, of Richmond Hill, New York, was sentenced in the Northern District of New York after previously admitting to smuggling three Burmese pythons into the U.S. during a bus ride from Montreal to the Big Apple on July 15, 2018, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman.
The bus he was on passed through the Champlain Port of Entry in Clinton County, New York.
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A New York man was sentenced to a year probation and fined $5,000 on Wednesday for smuggling three Burmese pythons into the U.S. from Canada in 2018. (RHONA WISE/AFP via Getty Images)
The pythons were discovered when Customs and Border Protection officers were reviewing Bautista’s passport and conducting a border search, according to Freedman. The young adult snakes were inside snake bags attached to his pants near his inner thigh.
Burmese pythons are not native to North America and are considered an invasive species, and Bautista did not have the permits and documentation required to bring them into the country.
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According to court documents obtained by The Associated Press, Bautista purchased the snakes at a reptile store in Canada. They were worth more than $2,500.
The Burmese python is one of the largest snakes in the world and is considered a vulnerable species in Asia – its native continent.
A Burmese python, a nonnative species in North America considered to be invasive, is captured in south Florida. (FWC photo by Andy Wraithmell)
The case was investigated by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and CBP and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander P. Wentworth-Ping.
Bautista’s attorney had no comment when contacted by The AP.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Pennsylvania police are searching for at least two masked suspects believed to have looted a Lululemon store overnight.
At least two masked men broke into a Lululemon in Ardmore, Pennsylvania, around 2 a.m. Tuesday, police told NBC 10 Philadelphia. Ardmore, a suburb of Philadelphia, is home to about 14,000 people.
The suspected thieves used a sledgehammer to break the glass on the store’s front door, according to police.
Once they gained access, the masked individuals grabbed handfuls of merchandise, security footage shows. The men went in and out of the store several times, grabbing handfuls of items that included coats, vests and shirts from the men’s section, police told local outlet WPVI.
“This is taking it to another level,” Lower Merion Police Superintendent Andy Block told WPVI.
The suspects then loaded the merchandise into a U-Haul truck. Their truck was last seen at the intersection of Bryn Mawr Avenue and Woodbine Avenue, just a few miles from the store, police said.
The entire incident lasted about five minutes, which Block said is longer than usual for this type of burglary.
“Usually, it is because in a smash-and-grab situation they want to get in and get out before they’re identified or anybody’s notified on it,” Block told CBS Philadelphia.
Block told WPVI the store is a popular target for robbers, given that many of its items cost more than $100. Now, he expects the alleged thieves have sold or exchanged the items.
“They’re using it on the market, maybe they’re exchanging it for drugs, or they’re selling it on the black market. It’s a highly sought-after item,” he told WPVI.
Even though police say Lululemon is a popular target, Lt. Michael Keenan of the Lower Merion Police Department still called the incident “out of character.”
“This is an out of character, out of type incident where we don’t normally see people smashing windows in the middle of the night. But, certainly this is something that is distinct,” Keenan told NBC 10 Philadelphia.
The store still opened Tuesday, with a banner covering the smashed glass on the door, according to Fox 29. Gina Picciano, a general manager at a restaurant across the street, said it was a frightening incident.
“I walked out here with my bartender and we looked, and it’s scary that it’s happening right across the way from us,” Picciano told Fox 29.
The same store was previously robbed in May 2024. Thieves stole more than $10,000 worth of merchandise during that incident, NBC 10 Philadelphia reports.
The Independent has contacted the Lower Merion Police Department and Lululemon for comment.
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