Joe Klinker News

The U.S. Coast Guard & U.S. Attorney Office announce sentencing in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington. Former Coast Guard man Shane Coxon, 24, was sentenced for knowingly making a false distress call to the Coast Guard in July 2010, and was sentenced to time-served of approximately three and a half months imprisonment to be followed by two years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay the U.S. Coast Guard more than $4,500 in restitution. Prior to the incident, Coxon was a petty officer second class in the Coast Guard, stationed at Sector Northern New England. On July 18, 2010, Coxon called the Coast Guard Sector Northern New England Command Center, provided a false name and reported a flare sighting off the coast of Old Orchard Beach, Maine.

In two different northeastern states, five fishermen are safe after their vessels sank this past weekend. During separate events, the fishermen were transported safely back to shore by Coast Guard rescue crews from Rhode Island and New York. In each case, the fishermen were able to alert rescue crews and enter their vessels' life rafts before the vessels sank. Saturday, the crew of the West Kingston, R.I.,-based fishing vessel Elizabeth Helen was hauling in their catch when the vessel sank three miles northeast of Block Island, R.I.