This news doesn’t seem a surprise, but it does serve as a point of closure. The owner of Miami Vice, a 95-foot, 55-knot charter boat, has pleaded guilty in the death of a passenger who was killed by the boat’s props while swimming behind it. The owner, it turns out, hired a captain even though he knew the captain didn’t have a Coast Guard license. To make matters worse, the boat didn’t have a charter license either. Finally, the owner filmed a video of the captain snorting cocaine as they drove around Miami Beach together.
Laurent Marc-Antoine Jean Maubert-Cayla, the owner, pleaded guilty in a federal court to charges of misconduct or neglect of a ship officer resulting in the death of an individual. He faces sentencing on Jan. 10.
The captain, Mauricio Alvarez, 39, has already plead guilty to misconduct on a ship resulting in a death. He will be sentenced on Nov. 28.
The case dates to March 29, when Maubert-Cayla took a cellphone video of Alvarez while they drove around Miami Beach and Alvarez snorted cocaine from a pink baggie. On April 1, Raul Menendez, 25, and six friends paid $3,000 to charter the boat for a trip around Biscayne Bay
Toward the end of the charter, Alvarez drove the boat to Monument Island where Menendez and his friends went swimming. When he thought they were ready to leave, Alvarez started the boat’s twin 2,250-hp MTU diesels, put the boat in reverse, and ran over Menendez, who was still swimming behind the boat, killing him. Read more:
https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article221285400.html
