*so i've heard
Posted on 02/22/2018 10:21:54 PM PST by Rebelbase
Title: Out of gas and drunk on the Chesapeake Bay, he made a false distress call. Now he's going to prison.
With his boat dead in the water, Justin Stahmer took to his radio in 2016 to broadcast a distress signal.
But he didn’t say he was drunk and out of gas in the Chesapeake Bay. He didn’t say much of anything. Just “man overboard,” according to court documents.
In response, the Coast Guard sent a 45-foot rescue boat, an 87-foot cutter and a Sikorsky HH-60 helicopter into the dark of night to search for an endangered boater who never existed.
Stahmer, 39, of Newport News, was sentenced Tuesday to more than four years in federal prison. He also was ordered to pay $56,704 in restitution.
A jury convicted Stahmer last year in U.S. District Court in Norfolk of making a false distress call and threatening a Coast Guardsman who came to help.
According to court documents, the charges stemmed from a June 20, 2016, incident. Stahmer was on a boat several miles northeast of Cape Henry when he used the International Distress Frequency to report a man overboard, despite being alone on his boat.
The Coast Guard launched a large-scale search while also hailing Stahmer for more than 45 minutes in hopes of garnering more information. None came.
When located, Stahmer initially denied making any distress call. Later, he said he called the Coast Guard because he had run out of gas.
When Coast Guardsmen boarded Stahmer’s vessel, he became belligerent. They called the Virginia Marine Resource Commission Police, who arrested Stahmer for boating under the influence of alcohol.
(Excerpt) Read more at pilotonline.com ...
That’s a serious crime and he is an idiot. But four years in the federal pen and paying $56,704 in restitution makes me think that there is one set of laws for the little guys like Stahmer, you and me and one set for the biggest lawbreakers ever - Obama, Holder, Lynch, Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton and all their accomplices. Will they ever get time in the pen and pay appropriate fines? Ha! Not a chance.
Drop him off on the coast of Somalia.
Figures too big to fail
And Somalians who sets fires and perpetrate racial hoaxes and fake “hate crimes” aren’t even charged. Different Federal law depending on your race.
Out of gas, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life.
Seems a bit extreme to me. A suspended sentence and restitution after a 30 day stint in the pokey would be more appropriate methinks. Something tells me there’s more to the story we aren’t hearing.
When I saw the headline, I thought the author was going to talk about Ted Kennedy.
Alcoholism is a terrible thing
He has a long history
Am I supposed to feel sorry for the idiot? Because I don’t.
In his case, it would have been a woman overboard, and he was ALWAYS drunk, and full of gas, or hot air, or whatever it’s called. 😀😄
The only positive is giving the Coast Guard a very expensive practice run to rescue a POS.
It’s stupid to waste taxpayer money when a bill for the expense, maybe doubled, would suffice.
snap!
I see more and more places where people climb mountains and such now charge you if you need a rescue; should keep you sober at least...
Extreme,I dont think so.
After flying SAR out of Miami for years I cant tell you how many BS type calls we went on. I also cant imagine what the expense was be to put a HH52,HU16 in the air and or send out a cutter to look for these idiots.
Not to mention they risk their lives evrytime they go out
Back then I used to ask and was told we couldn’t bill the idiots. Now from what I understand they can and good.
By the way,I knew Lumsdon
Date of incident: 26 November 1969
Crash related deaths:
LTJG John D. Voss (CG Aviator #1367)
LTJG Richard K. Clark (CG Aviator #1440)
AD3 Ronald A. Lumsden
Air Station the aircraft and/or crew were assigned to:
Air Station St. Petersburg
Aircraft type and Coast Guard tail number:
Sikorsky HH-52A Seaguard, 1458
Location of the incident:
Gulf of Mexico
Description of the incident:
Helicopter departed on a search mission for a boat with two elderly fishermen that were not lost. Unbeknownst to anyone, the two had returned to shore but failed to notify anyone they were safely back.
1458 arrived at the reported area of the “missing” fishermen and set up a search pattern. About 25 minutes into the search, Air Station St. Pete received a “Mayday” call from 1458, then silence.
The air station launched several other helicopters to search for the now silent and missing 1458. The wreckage was located by a Coast Guard surface vessel around midnight.
On Thanksgiving Day, 27 November 1969, the Coast Guard Buoy Tender JUNIPER from St. Pete salvaged the wreckage and recovered the crew’s bodies.
*so i've heard
I agree with the charge and conviction but this sentence seems too harsh.
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