The owner of Berry's Seafood, which was raided by Federal authorities last September, was sentenced in Federal Court Thursday.

United States Attorney W. Walter Wilkins said 49-year old William S. Benfield was sentenced for a felony violation of the Lacey Act, Title 33, United States Code, Section 3372.

United States District Judge Terry L. Wooten sentenced Benfield to two years probation, three months of home confinement with electronic monitoring, and a $1,000 fine.

According to a release by the US Attorney's Office, evidence in the case established that Benfield, through his businesses, Seafood Express, Inc., and Berry's Seafood, Inc., was distributing shellfish, primarily oysters and clams, to various merchants and restaurants in North Carolina, without being permitted as a Certified Shipper by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

A Certified Shipper agrees to meet state sanitary standards in order to protect the public health and safety from infection and disease related to the consumption of raw, uncooked shellfish.

Benfield admitted that he knowingly engaged in the interstate transportation of oysters and clams in-the-shell without obtaining the required federal permit.

Authorities believe that no one was infected or became ill from Benfield's shellfish during the period that he lacked the Certified Shipper permit.

The case was investigated by agents of the National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).