Thursday, 4:30 PM
Charter operator admits sinking decrepit boat
By Shelley Murphy, Globe Staff
A charter boat service operator who deliberately sank his disabled 62-foot charter boat off the coast of Gloucester to avoid disposal costs was sentenced today by a federal judge to a year of probation for violating environmental laws and ordered to publish an apology in the Gloucester Daily Times and the Standard-Times of New Bedford, which cover two of the region's largest fishing ports.
Thomas W. Lukegord Jr., 47, was also ordered by US Magistrate Judge Judith Dein to pay a $2,000 fine and $1,928 in restitution to the Coast Guard, to cover what it cost the agency to respond to the sinking vessel.
In a plea agreement with US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan's office, Lukegord admitted that after he cancelled insurance on the aging Nicole Renee and failed to sell it, he removed fuel and other hazardous material off the vessel and then sank it in May 2006 to avoid having to pay $10,000 to properly dispose of it.
Lukegord pumped water onto the Nicole Renee from another vessel, causing it to sink in about 100 feet of water off of Wingaersheek Beach and Plum Island in an area where commercial fishing vessels tow their nets, creating a navigational hazard, according to federal prosecutors. Under the whistleblower provision of the federal Refuse Act, a portion of the fine paid by Lukegord will be paid to individuals who reported the sinking of the Nicole Renee, according to Sullivan's office.
