PORTLAND, Maine — A former Coast Guard operations specialist was sentenced Jan. 18 to three and a half months imprisonment, which he has already served, for making a false distress call.
U.S. Attorney Thomas Delahanty II said Shane Coxon, 24, a native of San Diego, will spend an additional two years on supervised release after his sentence for reporting a fake distress call in 2010.
Coxon was serving in the Northern New England sector in Portland when he reported a flare sighting off the coast of Old Orchard Beach in July 2010, according to Delahanty. When Coxon called the command center, he also provided a false name.
Unaware of the hoax, the Coast Guard launched a search boat from its South Portland station and searched the water for an hour and a half, Delahanty said, costing the coast guard $4,785.84.
Coxon will also have to pay $4,785.84 in restitution.
