That's though man! You obviously can't trust anything this guy is telling you. Do you have any kind of paper trail that you paid him money for goods that you didn't receive? I know 2500$ isn't really worth getting a lawyer involved but you may have some ground if you have any proof. He may just need a little push with the law to get him to give you your money back. At this point I don't think you should keep any hopes of getting a snake from him. Personally I wouldn't want one from him even if he had one after all the crap he put you through.