A Craig man who conspired to sell the hides of sea otters illegally killed in Southeast Alaska has pleaded guilty in federal court to two felony violations of the Marine Mammal Protection Act, the U.S. attorney said Friday.

Douglas Linn Smith, 31, is facing up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the charges of conspiring to sell marine mammal parts and knowingly attempting to sell wildlife with a market value in excess of $350, prosecutors said.

According to a plea agreement filed in federal court this week, Smith loaned his fiberglass boat to a co-conspirator who took it out to kill otters and sell their hides in the company of an unnamed Alaska Native, who was along to conceal the fact that the conspirator could not hunt otters because he was not Native.

In exchange for use of his boat, Smith was to get 10 percent of the take from selling the otter hides. Smith also tried to sell two illegally harvested sea otter hides for $750 apiece to an undercover agent in December 2007, according to the plea document.

Smith is the second man convicted in the conspiracy. Christopher Rowland, 42, was accused of using blitz tactics to take the otters -- plowing a boat into pods of them, opening fire and collecting the floating carcasses, according to court documents.

Neither Rowland nor Smith is Alaska Native and they are not allowed to hunt otters, according to prosecutors. But Rowland would work with a Native friend during his kills to conceal that he was illegally killing otters, according to the charges against him.

Rowland planned to set up a business selling the hides in bulk to a broker in Korea, according to court documents. Instead, he sold them to undercover federal agents with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Investigators documented the illegal take of about 75 sea otters and the illegal sale of six sea otter pelts and several skulls between July 2007 and October 2008. At least five individuals were associated with the conspiracy, according to court records, but only Rowland and Smith have been named.

Prosecutors say the investigation is continuing.

Smith's sentencing is set for Feb. 16. His lawyer did not return a message Friday.

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