Yusiel Lopez Insua, 46, pleaded guilty Tuesday to seaman’s manslaughter in connection with the deaths of three girls learning to sail in Biscayne Bay. Insua admitted to operating a barge with obstructed visibility and without a proper lookout, which led to July 28, 2025 collision.
Insua also admitted he was using his phone to visit the online shopping services eBay and Amazon. “Due to the obstructed visibility, and lack of a lookout, Insua did not see the stalled sailboat before the barge struck it,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release yesterday. “A forensic review of Insua’s cellphone revealed internet activity during transit, including at or near the time of the collision.”
Under a plea agreement Insua will serve a year in prison and six months of home confinement. The maximum sentence for the manslaughter offense is 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for October 13.
(More details on the accident may be found by following the link at the bottom of this story.)
The United States of America, defendant Yusiel Lopez Insua (“the Defendant”), and the defendant’s undersigned counsel (collectively, the “Parties”), agree that had this case proceeded to trial, the United States would have proven the following facts beyond a reasonable doubt:
On July 28, 2025, the Defendant operated a 25-foot tugboat that was affixed to, and pushing, a 108 feet long, 28 feet wide, and 149 gross ton construction barge (collectively “the Vessel”). The Vessel had the capacity for steering and propulsion. Due to the position of a deckhouse and a crane on the barge, the Defendant did not have waterline visibility in front of the Vessel, from his position in the Vessel’s pilothouse. While there was another person on the barge (“Individual 1”), Individual 1 was not designated as a “look out” and was not acting as a lookout on July 28, 2025. Individual 1 did not have a means of communicating with the Defendant from the deckhouse to the pilot house, and the Defendant did not take actions to ensure that Individual 1 was acting as a “look out.”
On July 28, 2025, the Defendant was piloting the Vessel from a lot on Star Island to an empty lot on Di Lido Island to transport material from the deconstruction of a sea wall. Because the Defendant was driving the Vessel in the inland waters of the United States, he was subject to the United States Inland Navigation Rules, codified in 33 C.F.R. § 83, et seq. One such rule provides that “[a] power driven vessel underway shall keep out of the way of… [a] sailing vessel.” 33 C.F.R. § 83.18(a)(iv).
On that same day—July 28, 2025—a group of children and young adults in a camp run by a local organization were sailing from the camp towards Monument Island. One such sailboat was a Hobie Getaway type sailboat which had a 13’ 6” foot tall sail (‘the Sailboat”). The Sailboat’s sole means of propulsion was wind and sail. The Sailboat was operated by Victim 6 and had five children aboard (Victim 1, Victim 2, Victim 3, Victim 4, and Victim 5).
As the Sailboat progressed through Biscayne Bay, the wind suddenly died, leaving the Sailboat becalmed—unable to move under its own power. The Vessel, piloted by the Defendant, continued on a collision course towards the Sailboat. Because the Vessel was a power-driven vessel underway, it had a duty under the Navigation Rules to avoid collision. Despite this, the Defendant did not change course or speed. Victim 6, as alleged in the Information, attempted to warn the Defendant of the oncoming collision by waving her hands but the Defendant did not change course or speed.
A forensic examination of Defendant’s cellular telephone revealed that it was unlocked while transiting from the lot on Star Island and in the moments prior to and at the collision demonstrated activity on eBay and Amazon.
The Vessel—operated by the Defendant—collided with the Sailboat. Victim 4, Victim 5, and Victim 6, as alleged in the Information, escaped being pulled under the water by the Vessel as the Vessel continued to travel over and on top of the Sailboat, eventually submerging it and pinning it under the barge’s hull. However, Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3, as alleged in the Information, were trapped underwater, pinned by their life jackets to the bottom of the barge’s hull. Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3 perished by drowning.
The above conduct given the attendant circumstances constituted the required negligence under Title 18, United States Code, Section 1115. This negligence caused Victim 1, Victim 2, and Victim 3’s deaths. The Defendant had a duty to avoid a collision.
The facts described above are not intended to be a complete recitation of the facts of this case and are merely intended to form a basis for the undersigned Defendant’s knowing, willful, and intentional plea of guilty to Counts 1 and 2 of the Information.
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