District Court Judge Curtis V. Gomez on Friday sentenced Kyle Coleman, captain of the vessel involved in a fatal 2011 parasailing accident, to six months home confinement, according to a news release from U.S.Attorney Ronald W. Sharpe.
The release was issued Friday by Sharpe; Capt. Drew W. Pearson, the Coast Guard’s Sector San Juan commander; and Jonathan Sall, the Coast Guard’s South East Region Criminal Investigative Services special agent in charge.
Coleman, 33, also was ordered to serve one year of supervised release, 150 hours of community service with the U.S. Coast Guard, and to pay restitution in the amount of $1.3 million to the victims of the accident.
On June 10 Coleman pleaded guilty to operating the motor vessel, Turtle, in a negligent manner, thereby causing the death of a passenger while on a parasailing excursion. The owner of CWS Tours, which owned the vessel, pleaded no contest and acknowledged that it was negligent with respect to the vessel, and as a result someone’s life was destroyed.
The owner of the boat was also sentenced to one year of supervised probation and 150 hours of community service with the Coast Guard.
According to the plea documents filed in court, Coleman was captain of Turtle at the time it was conducting parasailing excursions on Nov. 15, 2011, just outside Charlotte Amalie harbor when a passenger, Bernice G. Kraftcheck, was killed.
Kraftcheck and her daughter, Danielle Haese, were hoisted into the air for the parasail ride as wind conditions were deteriorating. The strong winds and a weak towline caused the towline to break, resulting in the parasail separating from the vessel and the two women falling into the water. The wind then propelled the parasail, with the women still attached, at a high rate of speed causing the death of Kraftcheck and serious injuries to Haese.
The case was investigated by the Coast Guard and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Everard E. Potter.
