'VenomMan' Convicted Of Possessing Deadly Snakes In MD Apartment

CASCADE, MD — A former wildlife preserve worker who had deadly snakes, a crocodile and alligators in his Maryland apartment was found guilty May 8 of two counts of illegal possession of venomous snakes, police say. The Washington County man known as "VenomMan20" on his YouTube channel was originally charged March 9 by Maryland Natural Resources Police with 23 counts of illegal possession of venomous snakes, animal cruelty and reckless endangerment.

As a result of the conviction, Brandon Joseph Boyles, 29, of Cascade, was prohibited from owning dangerous animals in Maryland and was required to perform 20 hours of community service by District Judge Marc G. Rasinsky. Boyles also received one year of unsupervised probation.

Billing himself as “VenomMan20” on YouTube, Boyles had six Western diamondback rattlesnakes, one seven-foot-long forest cobra, one Cape Coral cobra and two boomslang snakes when Maryland Natural Resources Police officers searched his apartment Feb. 22. Officers found snakes housed in improperly secured plastic bins and two dead snakes in a freezer. The snakes lacked fresh water and one bin was filthy, police said. All of the snakes are potentially fatal to humans.

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In 2016 and 2017, Boyles posted videos to YouTube shot in his apartment of him unboxing venomous snakes, including a Gaboon viper, a monocle cobra and an Indo-Chinese spitting cobra.

Investigators say that when Boyle left his job at the Catoctin Zoo and Wildlife Preserve in Thurmont in September 2017, 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 officers 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 crocodile, alligators and a rattlesnake were transferred last year to the Maryland Reptile Conservation Center in Dickerson.

An additional 21 charges of illegal possession, animal cruelty and reckless endangerment were dismissed by Judge Rasinsky as part of a plea agreement, NRP said in a news release.

In his year-end 2017 YouTube video, Boyle recapped his activities and thanked supporters as he tried to grow his fan base.

Photo courtesy of Maryland Natural Resources Police