BRADENTON, Fla. -- Florida wildlife officials said a trapper set up a hoax, conning the media into believing he was trapping a wild, nuisance python when he actually owned the animal.

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Justin Matthews, 47, of Bradenton, has been arrested on a third-degree felony charge of misusing a 911 emergency system and a second-degree misdemeanor charge of maintaining captive wildlife in an unsafe manner resulting in threats to the public's safety.

The FWC said Matthews called media to a Bradenton neighborhood in July to witness his capture of a 14-foot-long Burmese python that was in a drainage pipe. According to officials, Matthews claimed that residents had been reporting seeing the python for months and that it was a threat to children.

In reality, officials said, Matthews had legally bought the snake from a licensed reptile dealer in Tampa. The FWC said he intentionally let the snake go into the drainage pipe, called the media and staged its capture.

Officials said Matthews admitted that he committed the hoax in order to highlight the problem of irresponsible pet ownership.