An Alaskan firefighter was fighting forest fires in Idaho last summer, and he, like some of his other firefighter buddies, caught a few snakes. He brought one, or possibly five, garter snakes home with him, in a "snakes on a plane" incident with varying contradictory narratives.

The upshot? While garter snakes are numerous in Idaho, and it's legal to kill them, it's definitely not legal to catch and transport them across state lines without a permit. In fact, it's a Lacey Act violation that carries a potential $100,000 fine and one year in prison.

From the Alaska Dispatch:

Mayo, according to court documents, eventually confessed he'd brought the two-foot-long snake home with him, but said the other snakes on the plane belonged to others on the fire crew. Furthermore, he denied the claim that he had been told to release the snakes. And he revealed, according to the documents, "his snake had a baby in Fairbanks, but the young snake died.

"BLM agents took possession of the (mother) snake," leaving Mayo snakeless.

Then began the American-taxpayer-funded prosecution and defense of the out-of-work firefighter. Public defender Haden on Wednesday admitted she's been involved with few cases of less significance.

"I did have a client once who was charged with goose molestation on the (military) base," she said. "You can't pet a goose."

She also noted that "every case is significant to the person charged." There is no argument there. There is no telling what might have happened to Mayo without legal representation. He might have been headed for federal prison.

Lucky for him, Haden negotiated a plea deal with federal prosecutors, and Mayo is to be sentenced in Fairbanks on Friday.

Read the rest of the waste of money story here.