GOULDSBORO — A federal judge has given federal prosecutors two more months to resolve pending federal charges against Winter Harbor lobster buyer Christopher Byers, his seafood company D.C. Air and Seafood Inc., and four other fishermen.

Last December, the U.S. attorney for New Jersey filed complaints charging Byers and the other defendants with conspiring to falsify records and obstruct justice in connection with the over-harvesting of scallops from the fishing grounds known as the Elephant’s Trunk. The alleged offenses occurred in 2007 and 2008.

Last Friday, U.S. District Judge Michael Shipp continued the proceedings against the defendants for 60 days “to allow the parties to conduct plea negotiations and attempt to finalize a plea agreement.”

The conspiracy charges carry a maximum penalty for the individual defendants of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The potential maximum penalty for the corporation is five years of probation and a fine in an amount that is the greater of $500,000 or twice its gross profit from the illegal transaction.

Under federal law, a criminal defendant has the right to have the charges against him submitted to a grand jury within 30 days after his arrest. If the parties reach a plea agreement, there would be no need to submit the case to a grand jury.

The case has been continued twice before.

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