An Orange Beach charter boat captain will be sentenced in January in U.S. District Court in Mobile after pleading guilty to a charge that he assaulted two Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers with a 46-foot boat.

On April 17, Sandy Smith, 61, was 22 miles south of the Alabama-Florida line when the two conservation officers approached to make sure no illegal fishing was taking place, according to a written statement from the commission.

Contacted at his Orange Beach home Monday, Smith declined to comment on the case.

Red snapper fishing in federal waters -- which lie beyond Florida's nine-mile territory -- was not in season April 17, although it was permitted in Florida waters that day. The federal season opened five days later.

Two deputized Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers, Dan Hahr and Tim Trepanier, where on a routine patrol in federal waters, boarding fishing boats to make sure that their occupants were not hauling in prohibited catches, said Capt. Brad Williams with the commission.

As the officers approached, Smith turned his boat, Misty, toward the officers' vessel, nearly causing a collision, Williams said.

"He did some erratic maneuvers which were pretty significantly dangerous for our officers," Williams said.

v Meanwhile, the officers said that fish -- believed to be red snapper -- were being dumped over the side of the boat, according to Williams.

Smith originally faced three felony charges after being indicted by a grand jury in late August.

Smith also was charged with destruction or removal of property to prevent seizure for allegedly having illegal red snapper aboard the Misty and throwing them overboard before the officers could conduct an inspection. He was also charged with making false statements in the investigation.

These latter two charges will be dropped during Smith's Jan. 22 sentencing as part of a plea bargain, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mike Anderson, who is handling the case.

With Smith's case, officials said they are making a statement that conservation officers must be taken seriously.

"That was unacceptable behavior when dealing with our enforcement officers," Williams said. "We want everyone to understand that a compliant boarding is the way to go, and resistance like that is not tolerated."

Guidelines for Smith's sentence have not yet been established, Anderson said, but the legal maximum he could face for the assault charge is up to three years imprisonment, fines of up to $250,000 and a maximum of three years on supervised release -- the federal equivalent of probation.