Justin Stahmer, 39, was charged with making a false distress signal and threatening US Coast Guard employees on Tuesday
A man who drunkenly made a false distress call to the US Coast Guard that there was someone overboard because his boat was out of gas was sentenced 56 months in prison.
Justin Stahmer, 39, from Newport News, Virginia, called a distress signal to the coast guard that a man was overboard.
But actually Stahmer was drunk on his boat and out of gas in the Chesapeake Bay, so he needed a lift back to land.
The Coast Guard sent two boats and a helicopter to look for the person overboard but only found Stahmer by himself.
Stahmer was sentenced 56 months on Tuesday for making the false distress call and threatening Coast Guard officers who boarded his boat.
Stahmer made the distress signal on June 26, 2016, when he was near Cape Henry in Virginia.
Stahmer called the US Coast Guard after his boat ran out of gas but lied and said a man was overboard. He was intoxicated when the Coast Guard showed up
The 39 year old from Newport News, Virginia, kicked a US Coast Guard worker while they were bringing him back to shore. The police were called and had to arrest him
The Coast Guard interviewed him for more than 45 minutes over the radio before sending out a 45-foot rescue boat, an 87-foot cutter and a Sikorsky HH-60 helicopter to rescue the alleged man overboard.
But all they found that night was Stahmer by himself on his boat.
He at first denied the distress call before saying he actually called the Coast Guard because his boat was out of gas.
When Coast Guard officials attempted to board Stahmer’s boat, he became belligerent and police were called to arrest him.
Pictured is Stahmer’s previous mugshot in April 2016. He reportedly brandished a weapon at a deli and threatened to ‘kill’ an employee while drunk. He has a history of disorderly conduct
The US Coast Guard used two boats and a helicopter to find the missing person overboard before they realized Stahmer had lied. He now has to spend 56 months in prison
While being transported back to shore, Stahmer kicked and threatened one official saying he would ‘take him out’ if he ever saw him again.
This was not the first time Stahmer drunkenly threatened people.
Two months prior in to this arrest, in April 2016, he was charged with brandishing a weapon and public intoxication at a deli.
Deli employees in Newport News told police that Stahmer threatened to ‘kill’ some of them and was carrying a gun while intoxicated.
Assistant US Attorney Joseph Kosky said Stahmer had a history of disorderly behavior, but has yet to receive a ‘meaningful sentence’.
Stahmer will serve his 56-month sentence in federal prison.