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An eastern Kentucky pastor wants Tennessee wildlife officials to return five venomous snakes confiscated in Knoxville. (CNN/WATE)

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Ky. pastor wants snakes confiscated in Tenn.

He says he now has a permit for snakes

Updated: Wednesday, 13 Feb 2013, 7:31 AM CST
Published : Wednesday, 13 Feb 2013, 7:31 AM CST

MIDDLESBORO, Ky. (AP) — An eastern Kentucky pastor wants Tennessee wildlife officials to return five venomous snakes confiscated in Knoxville.

Gregory Coots, who's known as Jamie Coots, is pastor of at the Full Gospel Tabernacle in Jesus Name Church in Middlesboro. Coots handles the snakes as part of worship services.

He told WYMT-TV in Hazard he bought three rattlesnakes and two copperheads in Alabama on Jan. 31. While he was driving through Knoxville, police stopped Coots for dark window tinting and saw the cages containing the snakes. A state wildlife officer confiscated them.

The district attorney general's office in Knoxville says Coots is charged with illegally possessing and transporting wildlife.

Coots was similarly charged in Kentucky in 2008. He said he now has a permit for snakes in Kentucky.