U.S. Coast Guard Officer Pleads Guilty to False Statements Charge

A Chief Warrant Officer in the U.S. Coast Guard has pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Hawaii to one count of making a false statement, according to Ronald J. Tenpas, Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department’s Environment & Natural Resources Division and Edward H. Kubo Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Hawaii.^[1]

David G. Williams was indicted by a federal grand jury on Aug. 8, 2007, on charges that he lied to investigators regarding his knowledge of the discharge of bilge wastes through the ship’s deep sink into the Honolulu Harbor.[2] In his role as Main Propulsion Assistant, Williams directed the maintenance of the main diesel engines and other machinery in the engine room for the Coast Guard Cutter RUSH, a high endurance cutter stationed in Honolulu.^[3]

Assistant Attorney General Tenpas stated that, “Today’s guilty plea stands as notice that the Department of Justice will enforce the nation's environmental laws in an even-handed and thorough manner.”^[4]

The plea agreement states that, on or about March 8, 2006, Williams became aware of the direct discharge of bilge wastes into Honolulu Harbor and that the Engineering Department personnel staged an unusual and irregular operation and configuration of engine room equipment to pump bilge wastes from the aft bilge to the deep sink and overboard into Honolulu Harbor.^[5] This process bypassed the “oily water separator” (OWS) system which acts as a pollution prevention control device managing accumulations of bilge wastes while underway at sea. The OWS system processes wastes to separate the water from the oil and other wastes.^[6]

The plea agreement went on to state that, on or about March 13, 2006, the State of Hawaii Department of Health received an anonymous complaint stating that the crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter RUSH were ordered to pump approximately 2,000 gallons of bilge waste into Honolulu Harbor.^[7] Investigators from the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) also received confirmation from Main Propulsion Division personnel who personally participated in the discharge that bilge wastes had indeed been released through the deep sink and into Honolulu Harbor.^[8] CGIS investigators garnered various documents from the RUSH, including engineering and ship’s logs, tank level sounding sheets, and a pneumatic pump.^[9]

During his interview with investigators from the CGIS, Williams denied knowledge of personnel discharging bilge waste to the deep sink and continued by stating that he was unaware of the pumping of bilge wastes to bypass the ship’s OWS system.^[10]

Sentencing has been set for Aug. 19, 2008. Williams faces a statutory maximum of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, plus a term of supervised release of up to 3 years.^[11]

Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 it is a crime for a person, in any matter within the jurisdiction of the executive branch, to make a materially false statement or representation.^[12] The punishment for violating section 1001 is a fine, imprisonment for up to five years, or both.^[13]

Federal criminal defense attorney, Douglas McNabb, has written extensively on the crime of false statements. Some of his work on the subject may be found here.

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[1] Press Release, United States Department of Justice, U.S. Coast Guard Officer Pleads Guilty for Lying about Vessel Pollution, May 1, 2008 (available at http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2008/May/08_enrd_370.html).
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Id.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Id.
[9] Id.
[10] Id.
[11] Id.
[12] 18 U.S.C. § 1001(a)(2).
[13] Id. at § 1001(a).