Ship's pilot gets prison for oil spill

SAN FRANCISCO, July 18 (UPI) -- A veteran ship's pilot has been sentenced to 10 months in federal prison for his part in an accident that dumped 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay.

Capt. John Cota, 61, of Petaluma, Calif., pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts, causing water pollution and killing migratory seabirds, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday. Cota's lawyer, Jeffrey Bornstein, said Cota is the first pilot to receive a prison term for a maritime accident.

Cota, a pilot for 27 years, was at the helm of the Cosco Busan in November 2007 when it struck a tower on the Bay Bridge in heavy fog. He was charged under a law adopted following the Exxon Valdez disaster in Alaska.

U.S. District Judge Susan Illston agreed with Bornstein others shared the blame.

"This was a tragedy with a lot of authors, but Capt. Cota was right in the middle," she said.

Fleet Management Ltd., which operated the Cosco Busan, is to go on trial in September.