Ed, if I may ask, is it at all possible that you purchased these snakes, and no longer wish to pay for them knowing that Allen is involved? I can understand this, however, you do have a legal obligation to complete this transaction if you did in fact accept the snakes, regardless of their origin. If they've checked healthy so far, what's the big deal? If they were in John's care and you've trusted his snakes before, this shouldn't be much different. Even if it is your last transaction with John, once you start it, you've got to finish it. I'm guessing that if as much time has passed as it sounds, you don't have the snakes or they're no longer worth the same amount, so you can't give them back (if you do/did have them) to reverse the transaction.
If you started this, you've got to finish it, nomatter what kind of taste it leaves in your mouth.
My two cents.
PS: I know how incredibly, incredibly entertaining this thread is going to be to everyone, but I'm going to make a quiet suggestion that we cease the comments concerning said entertainment, just to add to the drama and give the posters the (seeming) privacy that everyone else (sometimes) gets.
Two more cents.. At this rate, you guys are going to be rich.