The owner of a Bridgeport marina was sentenced to two years of probation and ordered to pay a $45,000 fine and perform 50 hours of community service for scuttling several sailboats and motorboats between the Black Rock Harbor and the Pennfield Reef Lighthouse in Long Island Sound.
John Magness, 72, owned the Bluefish Cove Marina and was seeking to sell property in 2018 when he engaged Carlos Santos in a scheme to sink several vessels in the Long Island Sound without a permit. Santos had unpaid dockage fees at the marina, which Magness agreed to waive for his cooperation in the plan.
The case was overseen by Stefan R. Underhill, chief United States District Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut.
Federal investigators identified five vessels that were scuttled between Bridgeport”™s Black Rock Harbor and the Pennfield Reef Lighthouse between October 2018 and April 2019. Peter Albrecht, an employee of the marina, was cited by investigators as being a part of this plan.
The three defendants each pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of navigable waters by sinking a vessel. Albrecht and Santos were each previously sentenced to a one-year term of probation, with Albrecht ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and Santos levied with a $500 fine.
