Massachusetts man jailed for importing bait fish

PORTLAND – A Massachusetts man was sentenced to six months in jail Tuesday for violating a federal law that makes it illegal to buy and sell fish that have been forbidden in certain bodies of water in Maine.

Michael Zombik pleaded guilty to one count of knowingly selling live shiners, a type of bait fish, to a man from Cornish and to an undercover agent posing as a buyer from Maine. Maine law prohibits importing bait fish.

Zombik, who was sentenced in U.S. District Court, also pleaded guilty to knowingly selling largemouth bass to a Cumberland man to stock a private pond and buying live game fish from an undercover agent posing as a Maine seller.

It is illegal in Maine to purchase or sell live largemouth bass that have not been legally imported.