Fake tug captain faces jail
A US tug “captain” now faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 in fines after his employer – and the USCG – discovered he was working with a forged licence.
Mark D Millien, a 45-year-old resident of Louisiana, pleaded guilty last week to a one count indictment for “using an altered, changed, forged and/or counterfeit United States Coast Guard license to gain employment as a captain of a vessel.” US Attorney Jim Letten says the man was indicted on 28 March and will be sentenced on 21 January 2009. According to court documents, Millien had been issued a master’s licence to operate uninspected towing vessels on US western rivers in 2000 but subsequently had that licence revoked in 2005 for undisclosed reasons. The man then applied to the KC Boat Company in Marrero for a job as tug captain and presented what appeared to be a valid master’s ticket. He was hired and worked as a captain for 227 days before the company sought to verify the merchant mariner’s licence – and found it was false.