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

A scuba dive boat captain was ordered Wednesday to pay about $32,000 in restitution to the families of three of the 34 people killed in a fire aboard the vessel in 2019.

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

Boylan was convicted last year of one count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer following a 10-day trial in federal court in downtown Los Angeles. The charge is a pre-Civil War statute colloquially known as seaman’s manslaughter that was designed to hold steamboat captains and crew 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 families of the victims.

Wednesday's order granted restitution payments to just three of the victims' families who submitted documentation for $32,178.82 in funeral expenses. Several other cases are still in dispute, as well as claims for lost property on the boat.

Other claims for restitution for psychological counseling, lost income, travel expenses and legal fees were not granted.

Several families said they did not know to keep receipts for funeral expenses, or that it was too emotionally difficult to go through which physical belongings were lost 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 and his wife Fernisa Sison. She described covering her entire living room with documents and files sorted by family member.

“It's expensive to lose five members of one family," Christina Quitasol said.

At a previous hearing, Boylan's attorney Gabriela Rivera said Boylan had no significant assets and would not be able to pay restitution. Rivera said Boylan was living off 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 did come into money, he would have to pay the victims.

Boylan was out on bond and scheduled to report to the Bureau of Prisons by Aug. 8, but his defense attorney argued at a Monday hearing to allow him to remain out of prison while his appeal is ongoing. The judge did not issue a final ruling yet.

The Conception was anchored off Santa Cruz Island, 25 miles (40 kilometers) south of Santa Barbara, when it caught fire before dawn on the final day of a three-day excursion, sinking less than 100 feet (30 meters) from shore.

Thirty-three passengers and a crew member perished, trapped in a bunkroom below deck. Among the dead were the deckhand, who had landed her dream job; an environmental scientist who did research in Antarctica; a globe-trotting couple; a Singaporean data scientist; and a family of 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 blamed Boylan for failing to post the required roving night watch and properly train his crew in firefighting. The lack of the roving watch meant the fire was able to spread undetected across the 75-foot (23-meter) boat while passengers were sleeping. The exact cause of the blaze remains undetermined.

Victims' families are still locked in civil lawsuits against boat owner Glen Fritzler and his wife, who own Truth Aquatics Inc., which operated the Conception and two other scuba dive boats. Also pending is a case against the Coast Guard for what they allege was lax enforcement of the roving watch requirement.