BRUNSWICK, Ga. – Federal prosecutors say a man on trial in Georgia was seeking to become famous as someone who survived a deadly bite from a black mamba – but they say the story was a hoax.
John K. Rosenbaum Jr. of Jacksonville, Fla., is accused of touching off a desperate search for the snake in south Georgia after telling authorities he was bitten in November 2011. The snake is among the world’s deadliest.
Rosenbaum is on trial this week in Brunswick, near Georgia’s coast, on charges of making false statements to authorities, The Brunswick News reported.
His lawyer says he was delirious after being bitten by another snake – a cobra – and never intended to mislead anyone.
Rosenbaum was hospitalized after a bite from his pet Egyptian banded cobra, prosecutors say, but no black mamba was involved.