Manslaughter conviction upheld for captain in deaths of 34 people in 2019 Conception dive boat fire

PASADENA — A federal appeals panel in Pasadena on Tuesday upheld the manslaughter conviction of the former captain of the dive boat Conception, which caught fire near Santa Cruz Island on Labor Day in 2019, killing 33 passengers and a crew member.

Jerry Boylan, 72, was sentenced in 2024 to four years in federal prison for the single charged count of misconduct or neglect of ship officer, a pre-Civil War law also known as seaman’s manslaughter. He was convicted in November 2023 following a 10-day trial in Los Angeles federal court.