20 ‘free-roaming’ pythons – some as long as 10 feet – seized at Utah home, cops say
An undercover officer with the Unified Police Department bought a baby Burmese python from a Utah man, which led to the man’s arrest for allegedly possessing exotic and dangerous and animals without a permit, KSL reported.
Police seized 20 Bermese pythons — half of which were over 10-feet long — from 64-year-old Marty Bone’s Holladay home, according to KUTV. Officers found that the snakes were “mostly free-roaming inside the residence,” KSL reported.
Police also found “fresh marijuana,” opiate derivatives, $2,000 in cash and a gun while searching Bone’s home, KSL reported.
Bone has not hada permit for keeping or selling exotic or dangerous animals since 2017, Salt Lake County Animal Services officers said, according to Newsweek.
Although he has not yet been charged by the Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, police recommended 23 charges, according to KUTV.
Officers recommended Bone be charged with 10 counts of possessing an exotic animal without a permit, 10 counts of possessing a dangerous animal without a permit, 2 counts of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute and 1 count of possessing a firearm by a restricted person, according to media reports.
