CALAIS, Maine — A federal judge says a Maine man violated the trust of Maine residents when he sold pesticide to a company that illegally used it to kill hundreds of lobsters in waters near the state's border with Canada.
Judge John Woodcock sentenced Clyde Eldridge to one year probation and fined him $5,000 for making a false statement to federal agents. Prosecutors say Eldridge owned a feed and pet store in Calais and lied to investigators when he told them he didn't keep track of sales of pesticides. An investigation revealed that he made a note of the quantity of sales to a subsidiary of Cooke Aquaculture.
Cooke Aquaculture pleaded guilty in New Brunswick Provincial Court in 2013 and paid a $490,000 fine for illegally using pesticides that killed lobsters in Canada.