After two days of court, no sentence in seafood case

A Grady County man and three codefendants are still waiting to learn what their sentence will be in a federal environmental crimes case.
Byron Puckett, a former member of the Grady County Board of Education, was in federal court in Valdosta Monday and Tuesday where Judge Hugh Lawson heard arguments about his sentencing and that of codefendants Junior Wayne Harper, Charles Stacey Logue and Ronnie Irvin Burdette. All four pled guilty in December 2011 to violations of the federal Lacey Act.
“He did not impose sentence. He wanted to consider the arguments that have been made,” said G.F. Peterman III, Assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia during a telephone interview Tuesday evening.
Peterman said a time limit was not announced, that parties would be notified when the sentencing is scheduled.
All four men are connected to Harper’s Seafood, Inc., in Thomasville where Puckett is company vice president and Harper is owner and chief executive officer. The environmental violations they admitted to include conspiring to buy fish they knew had been caught and sold in violation of Florida laws. Logue and Burdette admitted to catching and selling fish to Harper’s in violation of Florida laws.