A federal judge on Oct. 13 sentenced a Miami tugboat captain to 18 months in prison for a deadly collision in Biscayne Bay that killed three girls attending a sailing camp last year, authorities said.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra said Yusiel Lopez Insua’s actions on the day of the crash warranted a longer sentence than the 12 months recommended under a plea agreement, CBS News Miami reported. He initially faced up to 10 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
Lopez Insua, 46, pleaded guilty in July to seaman’s manslaughter in the fatal collision, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. Prosecutors accused Lopez Insua of failing to follow basic maritime safety rules, leading to the fatal crash.
Authorities said Lopez Insua was piloting a tugboat pushing a barge loaded with construction debris across Biscayne Bay in Miami-Dade County in July 2025 when it collided with a sailboat carrying a 19-year-old camp counselor and five girls participating in a sailing camp. The children, ages 7 to 13, and their counselor were taking part in a summer program run by the Miami Youth Sailing Foundation, according to the Miami Yacht Club.
Prosecutors said evidence showed Lopez Insua’s view was obstructed and that he failed to assign a lookout before the vessel struck the sailboat. The counselor and two of the girls survived, while three girls were killed in the collision.
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Becerra granted a defense request allowing Lopez Insua to remain out of prison for two months so he can help a family member attend medical appointments, according to CBS News Miami and the Miami Herald. He is required to wear a GPS monitoring device until he reports to prison on Dec. 10.
“Yusiel is profoundly sorry. He accepted responsibility for his conduct that caused this heart-wrenching, life-altering tragedy,” defense attorney Walter A. Reynoso told reporters after the hearing. “Yusiel respects and accepts the 18-month sentence imposed today by the Honorable Judge Becerra.”
USA TODAY reached out to Reynoso’s office for comment.
What happened in the Biscayne Bay boating crash?
The crash occurred the morning of July 28, 2025, near Hibiscus Island in Biscayne Bay, according to authorities. Emergency crews received reports at around 11:15 a.m. local time of a submerged vessel with missing occupants, prompting a search involving divers from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue.
The U.S. Coast Guard later said all six people aboard the 17-foot sailboat had been thrown into the water after a collision with a barge. The sailboat had lost wind and stalled in the path of the tugboat and barge, according to authorities.
Prosecutors said the vessel’s forward view was obstructed by a deckhouse and crane, and that no one aboard had been assigned as a lookout. A forensic review of Lopez Insua’s cellphone also found “internet activity” at or near the time of the collision.
“Because Insua’s forward visibility was obstructed and no lookout had been assigned, he failed to see the stalled sailboat before the barge ran over it, submerging the sailboat beneath the barge’s hull,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said in a July news release.
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The counselor and two of the girls escaped after being dragged beneath the barge, prosecutors said. The three other girls were trapped beneath the wreckage and drowned.
Seven-year-old Mila Yankelevich and 13-year-old Erin Ko died the day of the crash, while 10-year-old Arielle Buchman died several days later, authorities said.
“Three children lost their lives in a tragedy that never should have happened,” U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said in a statement announcing Lopez Insua’s guilty plea. “He admitted that his criminal failure to follow basic maritime safety rules caused this deadly collision. Our hearts remain with the children’s families and everyone whose lives were forever changed that day.”
Contributing: Michelle Spitzer and C. A. Bridges, USA TODAY Network – Florida
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Miami tugboat captain sentenced in crash that killed 3 girls
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