MIAMI — A South Florida scuba charter boat owner and captain has been sentenced to over eight years in federal prison for his role in a deadly dive trip, as well as for lying to the U.S. Coast Guard and fraudulently obtaining COVID-19 relief funds.
U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon sentenced Dustin Sean McCabe, 50, to 100 months in prison — a term exceeding federal sentencing guidelines — citing his “reckless conduct” and the “horrific circumstances” surrounding the victim’s death. A federal jury convicted McCabe in March 2025 on charges of seaman’s manslaughter, making false statements to the Coast Guard, and PPP loan fraud.
Prosecutors said McCabe bought a 48-foot vessel in early March 2020, named it Southern Comfort, and falsely declared it for recreational use on Coast Guard paperwork. Instead, he outfitted it himself for paid scuba diving charters. On March 28, 2020, McCabe took paying passengers out despite significant mechanical problems during the trip — including a propeller unexpectedly engaging, a loss of steering, and the boat running aground. In one instance, a diver was nearly pulled into the spinning propeller but escaped injury.
The following day, without reporting the incidents, warning passengers, or repairing the boat, McCabe ran another charter. During boarding after a dive, the same propeller malfunctioned, pulling a woman and her spouse into it. The woman was killed. McCabe was later prohibited from operating the Southern Comfort.
Months after the fatal incident, McCabe applied for and received two Paycheck Protection Program loans, claiming his scuba business was still operating. He submitted falsified payroll and tax documents to secure the funds and later to obtain forgiveness of the loans.
The Coast Guard Investigative Service Southeast Field Office led the investigation, with assistance from the U.S. Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment Lake Worth and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller, U.S. Coast Guard Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Tanner Stiehl, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob Koffsky.
