Captain of dive boat Conception sentenced to 4 years after fire killed 34

The skipper of nan dive vessel Conception, which caught occurrence and killed each 33 of nan boat's passengers and 1 unit personnel successful 2019, was sentenced to 4 years successful situation astatine a Los Angeles national tribunal Thursday. Captain Jerry Boylan, now 70, faced a maximum sentencing of 10 years successful national prison.

LOS ANGELES, CA - NOVEMBER 03: Defendant Jerry Boylan, right, skipper of nan Conception dive boat, arrives astatine Federal Court connected Friday, Nov. 3, 2023 successful Los Angeles, CA. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) Irfan Khan

Boylan was recovered blameworthy successful 2023 of 1 count of misconduct aliases neglect of vessel officer, besides known arsenic "seaman's manslaughter", for 1 of nan deadliest maritime disasters successful caller U.S. history. 

The fatal occurrence happened successful nan early greeting hours of Sept. 2, 2019, while nan dive vessel was anchored disconnected nan shoreline of Santa Cruz Island, which is astir 22 miles southwest of Santa Barbara. 

A full of 39 group — 33 passengers and six crewmembers — were aboard nan vessel erstwhile it caught connected fire. Those who were dormant beneath deck, were still live and successful request of assistance to escape, prosecutors said. Boylan and 4 unit members escaped.

The United States Attorney's Office said Boylan grounded to execute his duties arsenic nan skipper by being nan first crewmember to wantonness nan vessel without utilizing nan nationalist reside strategy to pass nan occupants astir nan fire. Additionally, national prosecutors claimed that Boylan did not effort to conflict nan occurrence pinch nan onboard instrumentality — which included an extinguisher — and did not station a nighttime watch, which allowed nan blaze to dispersed done nan alloy undetected. 

Defense attorneys based on that nan flames quickly closed successful connected Boylan, but he stayed aboard until he made nan mayday telephone to nan Coast Guard and only jumped erstwhile he was judge he would not unrecorded otherwise.

Surviving unit members told nan National Transportation Safety Board that nan boat's fume alarms never went off.  A preliminary NTSB study recovered that all six unit members were asleep when nan occurrence collapsed out, a usurpation of Coast Guard rules requiring location to beryllium a night watchman connected duty.  

Although national information investigators never recovered nan origin of nan fire, officials blamed nan owners of nan vessel, Truth Aquatics Inc., for a deficiency of oversight, though they were not charged pinch a crime. It was primitively thought nan occurrence whitethorn person been sparked by overheated lithium ion batteries. 

It took rescue boats astir an hr to scope nan disaster. By that time, nan Conception was wholly engulfed successful flames and each 34 victims had died. 

"The cardinal rumor present is nan defendant's duties arsenic captain," according to nan U.S. Attorney's Office.

Boylan was primitively charged successful December 2020 pinch 34 counts of seaman's manslaughter, but aft nan defense objected, prosecutors refiled an indictment connected nan azygous count covering each nan deaths.

"Defendant has ne'er apologized, overmuch little taken immoderate work for nan atrocity he caused," according to nan prosecution's sentencing papers.

At his sentencing Thursday, Boylan was ordered to surrender connected July 11 aliases soon thereafter to statesman his situation time.