CLEVELAND (Reuters) - An Ohio man whose hoax distress call triggered a massive U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue mission on Lake Erie must pay $489,000 in restitution, a U.S. appeals court said Tuesday.
Danik Kumar, a licensed pilot, told authorities in March 2012 he saw what he thought was a distress flare coming up from a boat as he flew over Lake Erie near Cleveland.
When asked by Cleveland-Hopkins International Airport to take a closer look, Kumar did not see a vessel, but reported seeing more flares and a fishing boat with four people onboard wearing life jackets and active strobe lights, the opinion said.
The 21-hour search included a 140-foot U.S. Coast Guard cutter, three smaller rescue boats, a rescue helicopter and a Canadian CC130 Hercules airplane. A month later, the then 19-year-old freshman at Bowling Green State University admitted to making a false report.
Kumar pleaded guilty to making a false distress call. A federal judge sentenced Kumar to serve three months in prison and pay restitution of $277,000 to the U.S. Coast Guard and $212,000 to the Canadian Armed Forces.
His attorneys had argued that Kumar was liable only for the search's direct costs to the U.S. Coast Guard, estimated by a defense expert at $118,000, and no Canadian Armed Forces costs.
