Conception dive boat captain faces prison in deadly fire after appeals court refuses rehearing

LOS ANGELES - A federal court declined to rehear the appeal of a dive boat captain who was convicted of manslaughter after 34 people died in a fire aboard his vessel over Labor Day weekend in 2019 near the Channel Islands.

Captain Jerry Boylan, 72, was sentenced in May 2024 to four years in federal prison for his role in the deadliest maritime disaster in modern California history aboard the Conception dive boat.

But Boylan has remained free pending the appeal. His latest court loss means he could soon head to prison.

A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit on Thursday denied Boylan's request for a rehearing after the appeals court upheld his 2024 conviction. No judge on the full 9th Circuit requested a vote on it after being informed of the decision.

Boylan, who was a licensed captain for 34 years, failed to appoint an overnight roving watch on the night of the fire - ignoring the Certificate of Inspection requirements that were hanging in his wheelhouse - and did not institute adequate fire safety drills. Prosecutors argued that this left his poorly trained, panic-stricken crew effectively useless amid the fire, which possibly originated in a trash can sometime after 2:35 a.m.

As the flames spread, blocking the exits for those crowded in the bunk room below, a member of Boylan's crew twice ran by a 50-foot fire hose overhead, trial evidence showed. Boylan himself called in a Mayday at 3:14 a.m. and jumped overboard, which prosecutors described as abandoning ship.

In appealing his sentence, Boylan's lawyers argued that the trial judge, U.S. Dist. Court Judge George Wu, misstated the law required to prove guilt, saying if Boylan "engaged in misconduct and/or acted with gross negligence," he could be found guilty of the charge.

According to Boylan's federal appeals team, the term "misconduct" permitted the jury to convict him of something less than gross negligence, contrary to the required standard.

But the 9th Circuit panel concluded that nowhere in the text is "gross negligence" required. "The panel noted that the laws regarding a seaman's manslaughter differ from those of involuntary manslaughter."

U.S. Circuit Judge John B. Owens noted in the opinion that the jury instructions explicitly cautioned against conviction based on a lower standard than negligence, calling the evidence against Boylan "overwhelming."

After a two-week trial, a federal jury in November 2023 found Boylan committed gross negligence in the deaths of the 33 passengers and one crew member who were trapped in a windowless bunk room when the boat caught fire before dawn on Sept. 2, 2019, off Santa Cruz Island.

In describing the deadly events, the 9th Circuit panel named all the victims and described their final moments. "While they valiantly tried to escape the burning boat - managing even to activate one of the fire extinguishers - none survived, all dying of smoke inhalation and asphyxiation. A brief video, recorded by one of the trapped passengers, showed their struggle to stay alive three minutes after Boylan called the Coast Guard and decided to jump overboard."

The appeals panel noted that the government presented the testimony of surviving crew members, as well as expert testimony about where the blaze began and a captain's duty of care when it comes to fire safety on board vessels like the Conception. The jury found beyond a reasonable doubt that he "engaged in misconduct and/or acted with gross negligence."

At sentencing, Wu said he found Boylan "incredibly remorseful" and that he had not "intended to do something bad." The judge called it "one of the most difficult sentencings I've ever done."

Boylan's attorneys with the federal public defender's office called it "an unstoppable inferno" and said there was little he could have done after waking amid the flames. His attorneys also argued that Boylan was merely following the custom of the company that owned the boat, Truth Aquatics, by assigning no one to overnight watch, and that he did not know he was imperiling passengers. Prosecutors called it the "blaming your boss" defense.

During the trial, victims' families endured graphic testimony about the effort to recover bodies from the charred boat after it sank 56 feet. They watched a 24-second video, found on an iPhone recovered from the wreck, recording the victims' last moments alive.

On the tape, voices could be heard exclaiming, "There's got to be a way out!" and "There's got to be more extinguishers!" and "We're gonna die ...!"

Clark and Kathleen McIlvain, the parents of another boat victim, Charles McIlvain, described themselves as "relieved" over the appeals court decision.

"Captain Boylan hasn't spent one day in custody, but he will finally be held accountable and serve his sentence," they said in a statement. "We hope this sends a message to other Captains that you will be held responsible for the lives under your watch."

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This story was originally published April 23, 2026 at 1:30 PM.