Captain Jerry Boylan.Photo:Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo

Defendant Jerry Boylan, captain of the Conception, right, arrives to federal court in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.

Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo

The captain of a dive boat that caught fire and sank off the Californian coast in 2019 andkilled 34 peoplehas been found guilty of manslaughter.

According to apress releasefrom the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California, Jerry Boylan, 69, of Santa Barbara, was found guilty on Monday of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officers — an offense known as “seaman’s manslaughter.”

Per the release, the crime carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison.

“This ship captain’s unpardonable cowardice led to the deaths of 34 lives on Labor Day 2019,” said attorney Martin Estrada. “As the jury found, this tragedy could have been avoided had Mr. Boylan simply performed the duties he was entrusted to carry out. We hope that today’s verdict brings some solace and closure to the victims’ loved ones.”

Dive boat Conception.Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP

In this Sept. 2, 2019, file photo provided by the Santa Barbara County Fire Department, the dive boat Conception is engulfed in flames after a deadly fire broke out aboard the commercial scuba diving vessel off the Southern California Coast.

Santa Barbara County Fire Department via AP

Boylan was the captain of the Conception, a 75-foot, Santa Barbara-based dive boat that burned and sank near Santa Cruz Island in the early hours of Labor Day in 2019.

According to the release, the jury found Boylan “committed a series of failures” in his role as captain, including abandoning his ship instead of rescuing passengers. “Such conduct constituted misconduct, gross negligence, and inattention to his duties and led to the deaths of 34 victims,” the release read in part.

The 34 victims of the 2019 fire.Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo

A photo collage of the 34 victims of the Sept. 2, 2019 fire aboard the dive boat, Conception, at Santa Cruz Island, is held by a family member arriving at federal court in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2023.

The jury also agreed with prosecutors that the captain was the first to abandon ship even though the 33 passengers and crewmember were still alive and trapped below deck, while he also failed to perform any lifesaving or firefighting activities or use the boat’s public address system to warn passengers and crewmembers about the fire.

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Investigators said they were unable to determine exactly what started the fire, but they discovered it began toward the rear of the main deck where passengers had plugged in phones and other devices into lithium ion battery chargers.

The victims ranged in age from 16 to 62 and included afamily of fivefrom Stockton, California.

source: people.com