PHILADELPHIA (AP) ? A tug boat pilot who was consumed by a family emergency when the barge he was steering crashed into a stalled duck boat filled with tourists, killing two Hungarian students, pleaded guilty Monday to involuntary manslaughter.
Matt Devlin was preoccupied by news that his 5-year-old son had suffered life-threatening complications during routine eye surgery while piloting the tug up the Delaware River in Philadelphia last summer, investigators said. The 35-year-old Devlin was charged with misconduct of a ship operator causing death, a maritime offense that authorities describe as the equivalent of involuntary manslaughter.
Prosecutors announced last month that Devlin had agreed to plead guilty and surrender his Coast Guard license. He faces 37 to 46 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.
The crash occurred July 7, 2010, after the duck boat stalled in the busy shipping channel. As it sat anchored, awaiting help, the barge began bearing down, and its tug operator didn't respond to distress calls, authorities said.
In the minutes before the crash, Devlin repeatedly made and received calls on his mobile phone, surfed the Internet for medical information and moved to a lower wheelhouse for more privacy ? putting the stalled duck boat in his blind spot, according to a report by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The crash sent all 37 people on the duck boat into the river, but 16-year-old Dora Schwendtner and 20-year-old Szabolcs Prem did not resurface. The Hungarians were visiting the United States through a church exchange program.
Their families have filed wrongful-death lawsuits against the city, the operators of both vessels and others.
Devlin's lawyer, Frank DeSimone, has said that his client is devastated by the accident and has nightmares about it.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 1.
Associated Press
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