Two men pleaded guilty in San Diego Wednesday to conspiring to destroy their own vessel, a 57-foot boat used for charter sport-fishing trips, in order to fraudulently collect an insurance payout.
Christopher Switzer, 39, and Mark Gillette, 37, each face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when they are sentenced March 6 in U.S. District Court.
They are required to reimburse the U.S. Coast Guard more than $15,000 for the price of launching a rescue helicopter and other costs.
Last Oct. 11, the defendants headed out to sea on their boat, the Commander, from its homeport in Mission Bay and went toward Long Beach.
Switzer and Gillette had planned to intentionally sink the Commander and submit a claim to their insurance company, according to Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ari D. Fitzwater.
The defendants admitted they attempted to sink their boat by destroying plastic PVC piping in the engine room, which caused sea water to flood into the vessel. They also pumped sea water onto the vessel and punctured its bulkhead to let sea water spread faster throughout the boat.
After sea water had flooded the Commander and it started to go under, Switzer and Gillette called the Coast Guard for help, which promptly launched a helicopter to find the two.
A Dana Point Harbor Patrol rescue fireboat later found the two boatmen atop the partially submerged vessel. As part of their plea agreement, Switzer and Gillette acknowledged that their actions subjected themselves and emergency responders to the risk of serious injury or death.
Upon their rescue, the defendants gave a series of false statements to cover up their plot to sink the Commander for insurance money. They said the first sign of a problem on the boat was a power failure and they could not figure out why it was flooding, according to court papers.
Switzer and Gillette’s actions failed to completely sink the Commander and it was found adrift near Dana Point the next day.
A commercial salvage company was able to successfully tow the Commander back to San Diego, where investigators uncovered the scheme to intentionally sink the boat.
—City News Service
