Deadly Snakes, Gators Seized From 'VenomMan' YouTube Poster

CASCADE, MD —A former wildlife preserve worker is charged with keeping deadly snakes, a crocodile and alligators in his Maryland apartment, police say. The Washington County man known as “VenomMan20” on his YouTube channel was criminally charged Friday by Maryland Natural Resources Police with 23 counts of illegal possession of venomous snakes, animal cruelty and reckless endangerment.

Brandon Joseph Boyles, 28, of Cascade, had six western diamondback rattlesnakes, one seven-foot-long forest cobra, one cape coral cobra and two boomslangs in his apartment when officers searched his apartment on Feb. 22, the state agency said Wednesday. All of the snakes had the potential to deliver a fatal bite to humans.

In 2016 and 2017, under the YouTube screen name “VenomMan20,” Boyles posted videos shot in his apartment of him unboxing venomous snakes, including a Gaboon viper, a monocle cobra and an Indo-Chinese spitting cobra.

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Investigators say that when Boyle left his job at the Catoctin Zoo and Wildlife Preserve in Thurmont in September, he took five venomous snakes, three alligators and a crocodile that he owned. He reportedly told officials he was moving the animals out of state to a site where private ownership is allowed, MNRP said. Last November, Boyles turned over a dusky pygmy rattlesnake to the Maryland Reptile Conservation Center in Montgomery County.

Based on that information, authorities obtained a search warrant for Boyle's apartment, where police officers reportedly found snakes kept in plastic bins that could have allowed them to escape into the apartment building. The snakes did not have fresh water in their enclosures and one plastic tub was filthy. They also found two dead cobras in a freezer.

Boyle was charged with 13 counts of illegal possession of venomous snakes, nine counts of animal cruelty and one count of reckless endangerment. He is scheduled to appear in Washington County District Court May 8.

The alligators were placed in a permitted facility and the crocodile was removed from Maryland.

In his year-end 2017 YouTube video, Boyle recaps his activities and thanks supporters as he tries to grow his fan base.

Photo courtesy of Maryland Natural Resources Police