Aaron Flett was so popular for showing off his exotic collection of snakes in area schools that pupils dubbed him “the Reptile Man.”
He also helped out at the Oregon Zoo in Portland and even had his own pet store at one time.
“It’s just a lifelong passion,” Flett told a judge Monday.
The Vancouver man learned the hard way that, passion or not, you still need to abide by the law.
Clark County District Court Judge Darvin Zimmerman imposed five days on a work crew on Flett for keeping about 40 snakes, most of them venomous, in his house last year. He also was ordered to pay $678 in fines.
Flett, 36, pleaded guilty to five counts of misdemeanor keeping a wild animal without a license. Vancouver Assistant City Attorney Darren DeFrance dismissed the remaining 37 counts relating to each reptile — including a 4-foot alligator — Flett kept at his home at 815 E. 32nd St.
The five counts relate to a Western diamondback rattlesnake, a Southern Pacific rattlesnake and three Hopi rattlesnakes.
While Flett acted as his own attorney, he had a family friend, Grant Hansen, a former deputy prosecutor, supervise and provide legal argument. Hansen asked the judge for a deferred sentence in addition to work crew because of Flett’s cooperation with authorities and his standing in the community.
“Were there any allegations he abused the animals?” Zimmerman asked.
“He simply did not have a license, your honor,” DeFrance said.
Zimmerman went on to quiz Flett about how he acquired the reptiles. Flett said he purchased them legally from wholesale sellers throughout the United States, mostly Florida, over the Internet. He kept them all in one room. They included copperhead rattlesnakes, some Eastern-Western diamondback hybrids, boas, pythons and vipers.
The judge included the deferred sentence in his resolution of the case after reading several letters from community members on Flett’s behalf, which detailed his efforts to raise understanding of exotic animals among the public.
The deferred sentence means that if Flett abides by conditions of his probation, the conviction will be erased from his record in two years.
“I don’t think you meant to harm anybody,” Zimmerman said. “This is not an intentional crime.”
“I’ll give you a deferred sentence because you’ve done a lot of good, as opposed to some of the defendants we see, like that guy over there in the orange,” the judge added, gesturing at a jail inmate seated in the jury box, waiting for his case to be heard.
The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, following a tip from Florida authorities, raided Flett’s home on Jan. 14, 2010, discovering the 40 snakes, including 34 that were venomous. The reptiles were seized by Clark County Animal Control.
Flett said he grew up loving reptiles. It started by catching garter snakes when he was young and then ballooned into a full-blown obsession as he got older.
He did not get his reptiles back. Most of them went to a reptile rescue organization in Oregon, except for the alligator, “Jake.” He was adopted by a family in Seattle, Flett said.
Asked after the hearing whether he would try to acquire a license to keep wild animals again, Flett said it would be too costly and time-consuming.
“It’s kind of a sore thought at this point,” he said.
Laura McVicker: 360-735-4516 or laura.mcvicker@columbian.com.
