An Alaska Native man from Ketchikan will serve five years' probation for illegally selling a seal skin.

U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler says in a prepared statement that 51-year-old Lawrence Willard also was fined $1,000. Prosecutors say Willard sold a seal skin that was not significantly altered for about $500 to a person who is not an Alaska Native, in violation of the Marine Mammal Protection Act.

The law prohibits the trafficking of marine mammals unless they are significantly altered into a traditional Native handicraft.