May 3, 2018 — A Woolwich man credited with playing a key role in establishing Maine’s lucrative baby eel fishery is scheduled to be sentenced Thursday morning in Portland for buying and selling more than half a million dollars worth of baby eels he knew had been caught illegally.

William “Bill” Sheldon, 71, is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Portland at 10 a.m. Thursday, to be sentenced for violating the federal Lacey Act by trafficking in poached baby eels, also known as elvers.

Sheldon is one of the most influential fishermen in Maine and has been described by national news media as “Maine’s elver kingpin” and “the grandfather of eel fishing.”

He is one of 21 men, 12 of whom live in Maine, charged in four states with participating in a scheme to illegally catch and sell elvers. In all, the defendants caught, sold and transported more than $5.25 million worth of poached elvers in nine East Coast states from 2011 through 2014, according to prosecutors.

Read the full story at the Bangor Daily News