NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — An Italian oil tanker's senior engineer who deliberately concealed that the tanker had discharged oily waste into the sea was sentenced to prison time and fined on Monday.
Girolamo Curatolo, of Sicily, was sentenced to eight months in prison after pleading guilty in federal court in Newark in August. He was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
The discharges came from a vessel owned by an Italian shipping company called D'Amica Shipping Italia S.p.A. The vessel was in the Atlantic Ocean and visited ports in the Everglades in Florida, in Baltimore and then in Bayonne.
Curatolo, the tanker's chief engineer, admitted the crew bypassed pollution prevention equipment and discharged oily waste through the tanker's sewage system. He also admitted he falsified an oil record log and instructed lower-level crew members to lie to the U.S. Coast Guard during inspections.
Engineer Danilo Maimone pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in January.