PORTLAND, Maine — A Maine man whose phony mayday call led to a seven-hour search by the U.S. Coast Guard has been sentenced to a year in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Torresen imposed the sentence Thursday on 23-year-old Owen Adair of Vinalhaven, Maine. He also was ordered to pay $15,000 in restitution to serve up to a year of home confinement.
Prosecutors said Adair used a two-way radio call to issue a hoax call, saying “Mayday, Mayday, Mayday” before proceeding to tell the Coast Guard his brother had suffered a serious laceration on a commercial boat.
Adair gave false information about the boat’s location, leading to a seven-hour wild goose chase. Rear Adm. Linda Fagan, Coast Guard commander in New England, said “lives were unnecessarily put at risk” during the search.
