Two Apalachicola men sentenced as part of seafood conspiracy

7 men from north Florida and south Georgia, including two from Apalachicola, have been sentenced on federal charges of shipping illegally caught fish across state lines. The seven men were arrested after a two year investigation which found the men had conspired to transport a variety of marine fish illegally across state lines from Florida to Georgia, then mislabeled the fish and falsified documents. The violations included selling fish that were caught and sold during closed seasons, including redfish, Speckled trout; red snapper, red grouper and gag grouper. They also faced charges of fishing in state waters without proper commercial fishing permits and licenses; selling fish without proper permits; falsely identifying regulated fish species on state and federal documents; and selling Vietnamese catfish as grouper. Authorities said most of the violations involve the federal Lacey Act, which prohibits interstate shipment of fish or wildlife taken in violation of state law. The two Apalachicola men involved in the crime were James Nations, Jr. and Jeffery B. Cannon. Mister Nations was sentenced to a term of imprisonment of 90 days followed by 90 days home confinement, a period of supervised release of two years, and a fine of $2000. Mister Cannon was sentenced to a period of probation of two years and a fine $1000. Gary D. Brown of Medart was sentenced to a period of probation of two years and a fine of $5000.