Thomas D. Simpson, Interfering with Coast Guard Inspection, Massachusetts 2017

BOSTON - A former New Bedford fishing boat captain has been charged with a federal crime. Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to interfering with a U.S Coast Guard (USCG) inspection of a fishing boat off the Massachusetts coast.

On May 31, 2014, the Bulldog, a New Bedford based commercial fishing vessel, was engaged in commercial fishing off the cost of Massachusetts when the USCG boarded the vessel to perform a routine inspection of the Bulldog and its fishing equipment. The USCG Boarding Officer encountered Simpson in the Bulldog’s wheelhouse and instructed Simpson to haul in the fishing net for inspection.

Instead of hauling the fishing net onto the vessel, Simpson let out more of the cable attaching the net to the vessel. When the USCG Boarding Officer realized that Simpson was letting the net out, he instructed Simpson to stop and to haul the net in. Simpson ignored the order and continued to let out cable until the net became detached from the Bulldog and sank.

The USCG and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) hired a salvage company, at a cost of approximately $15,000, to retrieve the net from the ocean floor. An inspection of the net revealed that it had three distinct and separate layers of netting in violation of commercial fishing regulations.

Thomas D. Simpson faces a sentence of no greater than five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

On Sept. 25, 2017, Carlos Rafael, the owner of the Bulldog and several other fishing vessels, was sentenced in federal court in Boston to 46 months in federal prison on a variety of charges related to the operation of his commercial fishing business.

The case was brought by Assistant U.S. Attorney David G. Tobin of Lelling’s Major Crimes Unit, with the assistance of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Services, Northeast Region, and the U.S. Department of Commerce National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Office for Law Enforcement, Northeast Enforcement Division.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/new-bedford-fishing-boat-captain-pleads-guilty-interfering-coast-guard-inspection