Captain in 2019 scuba boat fire ordered to pay about $32K to families of 3 of 34 people killed

LOS ANGELES — A submarine captain was ordered Wednesday to pay about $32,000 in damages to the families of three of the 34 dead in fire on board the ship in 2019.

Jerry Boylan’s criminal negligence as captain of the Conception led to the deadliest maritime disaster in recent U.S. history. A federal judge’s restitution order Wednesday comes nearly five years after the September 2, 2019, tragedy off the coast of central California, leading to changes in maritime regulations and several ongoing lawsuits.

Boylan was convicted last year of one count of misconduct or negligence of a ship’s officer after a 10-day trial in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. The charge is a pre-Civil War law known colloquially as manslaughter by sailor which was intended to hold captains and crews of steamboats responsible for maritime disasters.

He was sentenced to four years in prison and three years of supervised release. Boylan was also ordered to pay restitution to the victims’ families.

Wednesday’s order awarded restitution payments to only three of the victims’ families who filed documentation for $32,178.82 in funeral expenses. Several other cases remain pending, as do claims for property lost on the boat.

Other claims for compensation for psychological counselling, loss of income, travel expenses and legal costs were not granted.

Several families said they were unaware that they were required to keep receipts for funeral expenses, or found it emotionally difficult to cope with the loss of physical possessions on the boat.

“It’s too hard,” said Christina Quitasol, who lost her sisters Evan, Nicole and Angela Quitasol, as well as her father Michael Quitasol. She described filling her living room with papers and files, sorted by family member.

“It is expensive to lose five members of one family,” said Christina Quitasol, but she stressed that in the end it was not about money but about accountability.

“Holding Boylan responsible for what was lost,” she said. “Their lives were priceless and to value them at the expense of their funeral expenses is disturbing and disgusting.”

At a previous hearingBoylan’s attorney, Gabriela Rivera, said Boylan had no significant assets and would not be able to pay restitution. Rivera said Boylan was living on Social Security payments, had no family and no “meaningful job prospects.”

Prosecutors disagreed, arguing that Boylan had assets totaling six figures and that a restitution order would mean that if he ever got any more money, he would have to pay the victims.

Boylan was out on bail and was ordered to report to the Bureau of Prisons by Aug. 8, but his defense attorney argued during a hearing Monday that he should be allowed to remain out of jail while his appeal was pending. The judge has not yet made a final ruling.

The Conception was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles south of Santa Barbara, when the ship caught fire before dawn on the last day of a three-day excursion and sank less than 100 feet from shore.

Thirty-three passengers and one crew member died, trapped in a dormitory below deck. The dead included the sailor who had landed her dream job; an environmental scientist who did research in Antarctica; a couple who travel the world; a Singaporean data scientist; and a family with three sisters, their father and his wife.

Boylan was the first to abandon ship and jump overboard. Four crew members who joined him also survived.

Prosecutors accused Boylan of failing to post a required night watch and of failing to properly train his crew in firefighting. The lack of a night watch allowed the fire to spread undetected throughout the 75-foot (23-meter) boat while passengers slept. The exact cause of the fire remains unknown.

The families of the victims are still involved in civil lawsuits against boat owner Glen Fritzler and his wife, who own Truth Aquatics Inc., which operated the Conception and two other dive boats. They also have a lawsuit against the Coast Guard for what they allege was lax enforcement of the roving watch requirement.