A New Jersey man pleaded guilty to misconduct and neglect of a ship officer in the July 2022 drowning deaths of two passengers he carried on an illegal charter boat in the Hudson River, the U.S. attorney in New York City said Tuesday.
Richard Cruz, 32, of Elizabeth, N.J., operated the speedboat Stimulus Money with 13 persons on board when it capsized on the Hudson July 12, 2022, according to Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.
New York City police, fire and ferry boats converged on the scene of the 2:40 p.m. accident, and first responders rescued the survivors. A 7-year-old boy and 48-year-old woman were recovered about 25 minutes after the capsizing by members of the FDNY Dive Rescue Team, who found the victims unconscious trapped underneath the capsized vessel. Emergency medical personnel pronounced them deceased. The cause of death was drowning.
Cruz had purchased the boat, a Yamaha AR240, about three months before the accident and registered its homeport as Waretown, N.J.
“Cruz conducted boat ‘tours’ for paying customers onboard the vessel on multiple occasions in the months leading up to the capsizing, despite not having the required United States Coast Guard credentials and certifications to do so,” according to the U.S. attorney’s statement.
“Richard Cruz admitted today that his misconduct and negligent actions caused the tragic deaths of a young boy and a woman when Cruz’s vessel capsized in the Hudson River,” said Williams. This prosecution should send a message to all captains and operators of commercial vessels that there will be consequences when they fail to follow the federal regulations and safety protocols that exist to keep passengers safe.”
Cruz pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, who will sentence him Jan. 25. Cruz could face up to 10 years in prison for “misconduct and neglect of a ship officer resulting in death.”
At the time of the capsizing, Cruz was operating the Stimulus Money “with 13 people on board, exceeding the vessel’s maximum allowable capacity,” and moving on the river “at a high rate of speed even though an advisory had been issued to alert small watercraft of hazardous conditions, including high winds and heavy seas,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
Cruz did not have the legally required Coast Guard certification to operate the vessel with paying customers on board, and the boat lacked a Coast Guard certificate of inspection, another requirement for charter operations.
The capsizing and deaths were investigated by the Coast Guard Investigative Service and special agents and New York Police Department detectives assigned to the U.S. attorney’s office. for the Southern District of New York. The case is being handled by the office’s General Crimes Unit, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey W. Coyle is in charge of the prosecution.
The Coast Guard has campaigned for years trying to control freelance boat owners and operators, who offer cut-rate boat rides without legally required vessel safety inspections and crew qualifications of legal charter operations.
