Federal prosecutors say two Rhode Island men who touched off a needless and expensive ocean search-and-rescue effort when they fired maritime distress flares to celebrate a friend’s wedding have agreed to pay $5,000 each to settle the case.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Providence says the Coast Guard and the town of New Shoreham spent more than $100,000 combined responding to the flares off Block Island on June 6, 2020, when there was no one in distress.
Authorities say 31-year-old Perry Phillips and 33-year-old Benjamin Foster knowingly and willfully communicated a false distress message to the Coast Guard.
This weekend we're keeping our eye on something really special. Olympic swimmer Elizabeth Beisel is setting out to make history as the first woman to swim from Rhode Island's mainland to Block Island. She tells Hannah Donnelly that even after three Olympics this will be her most meaningful swim yet.
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Copyright AP - Associated Press
