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>Staten Island Advance
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Beautiful and dangerous: Poisionous snakes and other exotics illegally kept and sold in Castelton Corners, authorities say
By DOUG AUER
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — A Castleton Corners man has been caught collecting, buying, selling and trading protected snakes, turtles, lizards and salamanders — going so far as to erect a building in his backyard to house his extensive, illegal menagerie, authorities said.
Ronald Peteroy, 33, of Garden Street, was snared in an undercover investigation begun by the state Department of Environmental Conservation in 2007.
The sting — dubbed “Operation Shellshock” — has led to charges against 18 people in New York state, including Peteroy, along with six in Pennsylvania and one person in Canada.
The crimes encompassed more than 2,400 animals.
The investigation resulted in charges including 14 felonies, 11 misdemeanors and dozens of violations, DEC Commissioner Pete Grannis announced.
For his role, Peteroy is charged with one count of felony commercialization of wildlife involving a federally protected endangered species.
According to the court complaint against Peteroy, the DEC was first tipped off to his animal activity by a Waterways Conservation Officer with the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, who had seen an Internet posting advertising two venomous reptiles.
On May 24, 2007, a DEC investigator called the number included in the Web advertisement and was connected to Peteroy, who offered to sell a copperhead snake and rhino viper for $300.
His wife was expecting a baby, Peteroy said, which had forced his hand in respect of the venomous snakes.
During the conversation, Peteroy acknowledged that possession of the copperhead was illegal, because he did not have a permit.
When undercover DEC officials met with Peteroy on May 31 at his home to pay for and pick up the snakes, he expressed relief that the buyers were not “Fish and Wildlife” officers.
In a June 23 e-mail sent that year, Peteroy also admitted to undercover DEC officers that he had acquired ridge-tail monitors, which are unprotected exotic lizards.
On March 3, 2008, plainclothes DEC officers met Peteroy at the Long Island Reptile Expo in Melville, where he informed the would-be customers that he was starting a business, Chris Wholesale Animals, that specialized in the importation of reptiles.
Later that month, on March 15, Peteroy sent the DEC officers an e-mail listing more than six dozen species of exotic and native New York turtles, with prices ranging from the hundreds of dollars to $10,000.
Peteroy sent an updated list on Aug. 21, including alligator snapping turtles, red-headed Amazon River turtles and yellow-spotted Amazon River turtles.
In a Sept. 5 phone conversation, Peteroy told the DEC officer that he was getting rid of the yellow-head turtles because they could result in the business’ being shuttered. He noted that a friend of his had been sent to jail for selling the turtles without the proper accompanying paperwork.
Peteroy also noted that he and a separately charged partner from Long Island had “white-headed monitors. White-headed monitors are legal in America. But they are illegal because it’s illegal to import them from the Philippines.” Peteroy revealed that he would be using contacts in Indonesia and Africa to obtain the animals.
Peteroy then bragged that he and his partner have animals — including breeding stock — stashed in numerous locations.
During the phone call, Peteroy described his inventory as “some really nice stuff,” including Italian fire salamanders, an albino-colored timber rattlesnake, salmon-colored snapping turtles and bearded dragons.
Peteroy also offered to buy baby common snapping turtles from the DEC investigator and revealed another connection in New Jersey.
And he boasted breeding exceedingly rare animals, including a black-headed monitor.
When asked by the DEC official he kept his collection, Peteroy admitted to building a 16-by-20-foot structure behind his house, to which he had connected illegal sewer, electrical and gas hookups from his home.
At the Sept. 7 reptile show in White Plains, Peteroy sold the DEC agent two yellow-spotted Amazon River turtles for $2,000.
Then, on Sept. 21, he explained in detail during a phone call with the DEC office how he had cared for the turtles and that he could procure ball pythons from New Jersey and bog turtles from Florida, if needed.
On Nov. 28, the DEC agent spoke with Peteroy, who explained how he used the phone and Internet to communicate with dealers and buyers, and that he had four computers consolidated onto one hard drive maintaining his business records and transactions.
In total, Peteroy’s wholesale list named over 60 species of native and exotic turtles and reptiles, some of which are illegal species, according to the DEC.
“This investigation showcased the callous depth of cruel wildlife-smuggling black markets. The Humane Society of the United States is pleased that New York officials have sent a strong message that this kind of wanton trade and commercialization of wildlife will not be tolerated in the state,” said Patrick Kwan, New York state director for the Humane Society of the United States.
New York State law prohibits the illegal commercialization of wildlife and possession of protected species, and a 2006 law specifically protects all reptiles and amphibians.
Doug Auer covers police and fire news for the Advance. He may be reached at auer@siadvance.com
>I forgot something that happened at the spa that shows why I get nervous about new experiences. As we (Em and I) were walking to where they do the massages, and I was following her cause I had never been there and the woman who’s doing her massage takes her back and this guy asks are you R___. I was distracted by the fact that Em was disappearing down the hallway and getting a little panicked that she was leaving me and who is R___? I kind of gave him a blank look and he said, “You’re not R___?” It was then I remembered I had made the appointment in my middle name. So I said yes and he said he was Ron, and I totally missed that this was Ron, who Daryl recommends.
When I told Em, she laughed and called me stupid, guess I deserved that!
>I saw this fun meme over at Victoria’s Vintage Tea and thought I’d give it a go!
Rules:
USE THE 1ST LETTER OF YOUR NAME TO ANSWER EACH OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS. THEY HAVE TO BE REAL PLACES,NAMES,THINGS. NOTHING MADE UP! TRY TO USE DIFFERENT ANSWERS IF THE PERSON IN FRONT OF YOU HAD THE SAME 1ST INITIAL. YOU CAN’T USE YOUR NAME FOR THE BOY/GIRL NAME QUESTION
1.What is your name? Bella
2. A 4 Letter Word: Bear
3. A Boy’s Name: Brian
4. A Girl’s Name: Bridget
5. An Occupation: Baker
6. A Colour: Blue
7. Something you wear: Bracelet
8. A Beverage: Beer
9. A Food: Biscuits
10. Something found in the bathroom: Bathtub
11. A place: Barcelona
12. Something you shout: Boo!
>Before I go to bed, I just saw this on You-Tube and wanted to share.
>BERLIN, Germany (CNN) — Fifteen people died Wednesday in the shooting spree in the German town of Winnenden, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) northeast of Stuttgart, police spokeswoman Renate Roesch told CNN.
The shooting, which lasted about two minutes, happened at the Albertville-Realschule Winnenden school, a junior high school, about 9:30 a.m. About 1,000 students attend the school.
Police said the gunman was a 17-year-old former student dressed in military gear.
Authorities had sealed the town off and launched an intense manhunt for the man they described as 1.80m (5’11”) and heavily armed.
According to Welt Online, a shoot out between the gunman and police officers ensued in a grocery store, during which the gunman was killed. Two other people also died during the shootout, which left two police officers seriously wounded, it said.
“It is a small town, an idyllic town,” said Frank Nipkau, the editor in chief of local Winnenden Zeitung newspaper. “The town people are devastated and they can’t understand why this is happening in this town.”
“Police are coming through the whole time. They’re obviously looking all over town for him,” said Roberto Seifert, who works at a company next to the school. “We’ve never had anything like this,” he told Reuters.com by phone.
Security at German schools has been an issue in the past. In November 2006, an 18-year-old former student strapped explosives to his body and went on a rampage at a middle school in western Germany, shooting and wounding six people — most of them students — before killing himself.
In July 2003, a 16-year-old student shot a teacher before taking his own life at a school in the southern German town of Coburg.
A year earlier, 18 people were killed when an expelled student went on a shooting spree at his school in eastern Germany.
Another European country, Finland, is planning to toughen firearms laws after two school shootings there left 20 people dead. Those incidents occurred in November 2007 and September 2008.
Finnish news reports on Wednesday said an Interior Ministry working group has issued a proposal calling for age 20 as the minimum age for handgun ownership and 18 as the minimum for rifles. The proposal will be circulated among legislators.
“Under the proposal, a firearm license applicant would be required to provide a certificate from a shooting club instructor to certify that the applicant has practiced shooting at a gun club for two years prior to applying for a permit.
“The ministry also wants applicants’ health and behavior to come under closer scrutiny and has suggested adopting aptitude tests used by the Defense Forces,” according to yla.fi.
>(CNN) — An Alabama man went on a shooting rampage Tuesday, killing 10 people — family members and apparent strangers — before turning the gun on himself, officials said.
By the time Michael McLendon ended his rampage, he had fatally shot his mother and set fire to her house, killed his grandparents, his aunt and uncle, the wife and child of a sheriff’s deputy, and three other people, according to the coroners of the two counties where the shootings occurred.
“He was shooting at just ordinary people going about their business,” said Alabama state Sen. Harri Anne Smith.
Smith represents Geneva County, where all but one of the victims were killed. Smith said she had been briefed about the incident by state and local law enforcement.
By early Wednesday, authorities were still trying to piece together the chronology of events and the motive for McLendon’s actions.
Though they have identified all the victims, they withheld releasing their names until they could notify family members.
The shooting started about 4 p.m. at a house that McLendon shared with his mother, Lisa, in the town of Kinston, near the Florida border in Coffee County.
A passerby found the house on fire and alerted authorities. Inside, firefighters found the bodies of Lisa McLendon and four dogs, said county Coroner Robert Preachers.
The mother had been shot, he said.
The gunman then went east into Geneva County. There, he shot his grandfather, grandmother, uncle and aunt as they sat on a porch in the nearby town of Samson, said Geneva Coroner Max Motley.
The wife of a sheriff’s deputy who lived in a house across the street was also killed, along with her toddler, Motley said. Both were shot.
A second child was airlifted to a hospital in Florida in critical condition, authorities said.
“I can’t describe what happened, why it happened,” Geneva County Sheriff Greg Ward told CNN affiliate WTVY. “It’s just a sad day for Geneva County.”
McLendon, armed with a semiautomatic weapon, allegedly also fatally shot a man who lived in a mobile home in his family members’ yard, Motley said.
At some point, the gunman headed down state Highway 52, firing at least seven bullets into a state trooper’s car. The trooper suffered minor injuries from shattered glass. Watch the aftermath of the shooting spree »
The final two victims were a woman killed at a Big-Little Store service station off the highway and a man outside the Samson Pipe and Supply store. Both victims were apparently shot at random, authorities said.
The gunman ended up at the Reliable Metal Products plant in Geneva, where police rammed his vehicle, forcing him to get out. He fired a 30-round burst with what appeared to be an M16 rifle, grazing Police Chief Frankie Lindsey with a bullet.
“Then the subject entered the business. Within minutes, shots were heard. … Law enforcement officers found him dead,” state police Cpl. Steve Jarrett said.
The manufacturing plant is 12 miles from his mother’s house.
Sheriff’s officials say the gunman was a former employee of Reliable Metal, CNN affiliate WEAR-TV reported.
Col. Christopher Murphy, head of the Alabama Department of Public Safety, called the southern Alabama rampage “the worst that DPS has a memory of.”
Another mass killing occurred in southern Alabama in 2002, when Westley Devon Harris gunned down six members of his 16-year-old girlfriend’s family at their farm in Luverne. Harris was convicted and sentenced to death in 2005.
>The New York Times on the Web
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Compiled 2 AM ET
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For news updated throughout the day, visit New York Times on the Web
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– TOP STORIES –
Madoff Will Plead Guilty; Faces Life for Vast Swindle
By DIANA B. HENRIQUES
Bernard L. Madoff is expected to plead guilty Thursday to operating a massive Ponzi scheme, which could put him in prison for life.
………………
Queens Doctor and Cousin Are Guilty in Murder
By ANNE BARNARD
Mazoltuv Borukhova, and her cousin by marriage, Mikhail Mallayev, were found guilty of first-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Daniel Malakov.
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This is Lil’ Bit, who has been living in a New York Animal Shelter for 2 years, in a small cage. She needs a loving home, watch these video’s to see how lovable she is: Lil’ Bit, Lil’ Bit in snow.
I read all about her at Sarah’s who read all about it at Daryl’s. I’m not able to do anything directly, but I have a readers and then you have readers. So if we all pull together and blog about Lil’ Bit, maybe we can find her a good home.
Here is what Daryl had to say about her.
“Like many animal lovers, Rosanna volunteers at her local shelter. She has become bonded with one particular dog that has been at the shelter for two years now. Lil’ Bit owns up to her name, she’s a little chunk of love on four legs.
After two years in a shelter in Wantagh, New York, she’s wondering when she will get her chance at a loving home. Lil’ Bit has never met a person she did not like and has so much affection to give.
Lil’ Bit is approximately seven years old and although she has very few teeth, she manages to get her food down just fine. She’s hopeful that her new family will help her shed those extra pounds so she can find her waistline again.
Please help Lil’ Bit find the loving home she deserves by posting her flyer in your community. Please also pass the flyer onto others who can do the same.
If you would like more information on this adorable sweetie, please contact Rosanna directly at: luvyourdog11@optonline.net”
Please freely copy this post, I don’t need any acknowledgement, I just want us all to use the power of our blogs, or email and the internet to find this little dog a loving home.
Belleza
just a (transplanted) city girl 