Alejandro Gonzalez, Lying to Coast Guard, Florida 2009

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Miami Man Sentenced for Lying to Coast Guard

A Miami-based ship surveyor has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for lying to the Coast Guard and falsely certifying that inspections had been performed on two ships, which were designed to ensure that the ships were seaworthy and did not pose a threat to the crew or the marine environment.

Alejandro Gonzalez, 60, of Miami-Dade County, Fla., was sentenced in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida for making false statements and obstructing a Coast Guard Port State Control examination.

The case centers around two ships, the M/V Cala Galdana and the M/V Cosette, which Gonzalez inspected in 2009. Gonzalez claimed that the M/V Cala Galdana had been drydocked in Colombia in 2006, when in fact it had not. He also certified the M/V Cosette as safe for sea in Fort Pierce, Fla., despite evidence that the vessel had safety issues.

Coast Guard inspectors discovered the issues with the M/V Cosette shortly after it arrived in New York City harbor, where exhaust and fuel were pouring into the engine room, endangering the crew and the ship.

“Mr. Gonzalez is being held accountable today for making false statements and certifications to Coast Guard inspectors whose job it is to ensure the safety of ships at sea,” said Assistant Attorney General Ignacia S. Moreno. “Ship surveyors serve a crucial public safety role, and when they abdicate their responsibility they put mariners in danger and our nation’s waters at risk of contamination.”

The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jaime Raich and Trial Attorney Kenneth Nelson, of the Environmental Crimes Section of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

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