Massachusetts Man Sentenced for Trafficking Baby Eels

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) - A Massachusetts man has been sentenced to three years of probation for his role in trafficking nearly $2 million worth of baby eels.

Michael Bryant was among a group of people who pleaded guilty to selling or transporting the eels, called elvers, last year. The West Yarmouth man was sentenced in federal court in Portland on Wednesday.

Elvers can only be fished legally and commercially in Maine and South Carolina. They sell for upward of $1,000 a pound before being shipped to Asia for use in sushi.

Bryant must serve nine months of home confinement per the terms of sentencing. He must also pay a $5,000 fine and $45,000 in restitution.

His sentencing is the first to stem from Operation Broken Glass, a federal eel trafficking investigation.