New Jersey Crew Members: Erik James, 40, of Goshen & Christopher Martin, 40, of Wildwood Sentenced to 30 Months in Prison for Conspiring to Sink Boat for Insurance Payment

Two former crew members of the fishing boat Alexander II who admitted to participating in a plot to sink the boat off the coast of Cape May in August 2009 in exchange for payment were sentenced to prison in 2012.

Erik James, 40, of Goshen, New Jersey, who previously pleaded guilty in front of U.S. District Judge Renee Marie Bumb to a superseding information charging him with conspiracy to destroy the Alexander II on the high seas, was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Christopher Martin, 40, of Wildwood, New Jersey, who previously pleaded guilty before Judge Bumb as well, to a superseding information charging him with the conspiracy, was sentenced also to 30 months in prison.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The defendants engaged in a scheme to sink the Alexander II so that boat’s owner, Scott Tran, 38, of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, could collect 400.000 USD on an insurance policy with State National Insurance Co.

In July 2009, Tran hired a captain for the ship, whom Tran and his right-hand man, Manh Nguyen, 58, of Philadelphia, solicited to sink the boat in return for payment. The captain recruited a crew, including James and Martin, to help him sink the boat.

On August 2, 2009, the Alexander II left Cape May, New Jersey, with little fuel, ice, food, and other supplies for a purported lengthy fishing trip. The ship’s log was falsified to read that more than 50 fish, weighing a total of approximately 3.000 pounds, had been caught. Once the Alexander II reached a point approximately 86 miles southeast of Cape May, the captain and his crew worked together in an unsuccessful attempt to sink it.

In addition to the prison terms, Judge Bumb sentenced both defendants to three years of supervised release and ordered them to pay restitution of 83.000 Dollars to the U.S. Coast Guard.

Source: www.vesselfinder.com