Published: July 23, 2008 08:26 am      

Pastor pleads not guilty to sale of snakes

Coots faces 21 counts after arrest during 'reptile roundup'

By Brad Hicks / Staff Writer

A Bell County pastor was arraigned in Laurel County District Court on Monday for the alleged sale of venomous snakes.

Gregory James Coots, 36, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment hearing. Coots is charged with 21 counts relating to the buying/selling or transporting of protected wildlife and the possession with intent to sale protected wildlife within the limits of Laurel County. According to a criminal complaint signed by Sgt. James Bingham of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, Coots sold 10 deadly snakes to a special investigator with the KDFWR. Bingham said the alleged transaction took place at the Pilot truck stop located off Exit 29.

“It was basically the sale of reptiles,” Bingham said of the charges.

The complaint stated the alleged sale took place on Aug. 18, 2007 in which Coots sold four timber rattlesnakes and six northern copperheads, which are snakes native to Kentucky, to the investigator for the sum of $175 without the possession of a permit.

Coots was arrested on July 10 as part of a “reptile roundup,” in which authorities charged nine other individuals throughout five counties in Kentucky for the illegal sale of reptiles as part of a two-year investigation. According to a report from the Associated Press, authorities removed 42 copperheads, 11 timber rattlers, three cottonmouth water moccasins, a western diamondback rattlesnake, two cobras and a puff adder were removed from Coots’ Middlesboro home at the time of his July arrest.

Twenty of Coot’s charges deal with the buying, selling or transporting of protected wildlife. Bingham said 10 charges come from the possession of the 10 snakes, with the other 10 coming from their sale. He is also charged with one count of propagating/holding protected wildlife for possession of more than five of a particular species by allegedly having in his possession six copperheads.

Each of Coot’s 21 charges in Laurel County are class-A misdemeanors, for which he faces possible fines of $100 to $1,000 per count. Bingham said it is unlikely Coots will have to pay the maximum amount, $21,000, if found guilty.

“I don’t really expect it to be anywhere near that,” he said.

Bingham also said he could only offer a conjecture as to why individuals would want to own poisonous snakes.

“The majority (of the sales) are for what we call the pet trade,” he said. “Where we like dogs and cats, some people like reptiles.”

While he pleaded not guilty in Laurel County court, WLEX reports Coots did plead guilty to seven counts of buying, selling or transporting protected wildlife and one count of holding protected wildlife in Bell County District Court Tuesday. Coots was ordered to pay $6,400 in fines and will be on probation for a period of two years. A previous Associated Press report stated Coots is the pastor of the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name in Middlesboro, at which snakes are sometimes handled during worship services. The Associated Press also reports that a Tennessee woman died in 1995 as the result of a snake bite while attending services at Coots’ church.

Coots has a pretrial hearing set for Aug. 19 in Laurel County District Court. Bingham said the case is still ongoing.