PASADENA, Calif. (KESQ) – A federal appeals panel in Pasadena today upheld the manslaughter conviction of the former captain of the dive boat Conception, which caught fire near Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day in 2019, killing 33 passengers, including two Santa Monica residents, and a crew member.
Jerry Boylan, 72, was sentenced in 2024 to four years in federal prison for the single charged count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a pre-Civil War law also known as seaman’s manslaughter. He was convicted in November 2023 following a 10-day trial in Los Angeles federal court.
Boylan was allowed to remain free on bond pending his appeal before a three-judge panel of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals…