August 24, 2018 — A former New Bedford fishing boat captain pleaded guilty Thursday to interfering with a U.S Coast Guard inspection and faces sentencing Nov. 28, federal prosecutors said.
Thomas D. Simpson, 57, of South Portland, Maine, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to one count of destruction or removal of property subject to seizure and inspection, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Simpson was the captain of the Bulldog, a New Bedford-based commercial fishing vessel and one of several fishing vessels owned by Carlos Rafael, the news release said. On Sept. 25, 2017, Rafael was sentenced in U.S. District Court, Boston, to 46 months in federal prison on charges related to the operation of his commercial fishing business.
On May 31, 2014, the Bulldog was engaged in commercial fishing off the coast of Massachusetts when the USCG boarded the vessel to perform a routine inspection, the news release said. At the time of the boarding, the Bulldog’s net was deployed in the water and the crew was actively fishing.
The USCG boarding officer encountered Simpson in the wheelhouse and instructed him to haul in the fishing net for inspection, the news release said. Instead of hauling the fishing net onto the vessel, he let out more of the cable attaching the net to the vessel.