A Detroit resident has been convicted and sentenced in federal court for making a false distress call to the U.S. Coast Guard, announced United States Attorney Barbara McQuade and Captain Stephen Torpey, Chief of Incident Management for the Ninth Coast Guard District. Andre D. Cheatom, 19 years old, was sentenced to 18 months incarceration, supervised release for three years, a special assessment of $100, and ordered to pay $14,302 in restitution for knowingly and willfully causing the Coast Guard to attempt to save lives and property when no help was needed, in violation of Title 14, U.S. Code, section 88(c). "When members of the Coast Guard respond to a hoax call, they are diverted from people in actual distress," McQuade said.