ROCKLAND — Nathan Libby, 31, of Rockland, has been named in a criminal complaint filed Jan. 27 in U.S. District Court in Portland. The complaint alleges Libby communicated a false distress call Dec. 3.  An investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard into that incident concluded with the court filing.

The Maine Marine Patrol, U.S. Coast Guard Station Rockland and a crew from the Coast Guard’s Cape Cod air division had searched Dec. 3 for more than five hours for what was described as a fishing vessel with three crew members in the waters off of Spruce Head. 

The last word was that the crew was putting on survival gear and heading to Atwood Lobster, on Spruce Head.

UPDATE: Determined a hoax, Coast Guard suspends search air, water search off of Spruce Head

The May Day call was received Dec. 3 at 6:30 a.m. with the report of the 42-foot white fishing boat taking on water.

The boat’s name nor homeport was given in the call. Listen to the audio call here.

But U.S. Special Agent Mark Root with the Coast Guard’s Investigative Service in Portland, determined in his investigation that Libby “knowingly and willfully” communicated a false distress message to the Coast Guard.

He wrote that his affidavit was intended to show merely that there is sufficient probable cause for the request complaint, and in conclusion said there is probable cause to believe, “that on about Dec. 3, 2020, Nathan Libby transmitted a false distress signal in violation of 14 U.S.C. (521(c),” and requested that the court issue an arrest warrant for Libby.

Libby was using Channel 16 to relay that he was on a vessel that lost its rudder and taking on water, “when, in fact, he was on land and there was no such vessel in distress, causing the Coast Guard to deploy resources in an attempt to save lives when no help was needed,” wrote Root, in complaint filed Jan. 27 in U.S. District Court.

Root reported in the complaint that Maine Marine Patrol Officer Nicholas Stillwell traveled to Atwood’s Lobster in South Thomaston  in response to the call, where he board a private vessel that was heading out in the harbor to locate the boat that made the call.

No such boat, however, was found.

At 8 a.m., Stillwell spoke with Libby, who was at the Spruce Head Fishermen’s Co-op. The complaint said that Libby said he was employed by the Co-op and provided Stillwell a list of fishing boats that went out that morning.

The complaint said that Stillwell talked with others who reported that the voice in the audio recording of the May Day sounded like that of Libby.

Later in the morning, the Coast Guard determined that the call was a probable hoax and suspended the search.

The investigation continued, including sending audio clips to a university professor familiar with audio forensics and voice recognition, who concluded that the call originated from the same speaker.

The investigation also included an analysis of cell tower transmission patterns and signal durations and directions.

In response to the hoax May Day call, the Coast Guard had launched a 47-foot motor life boat based in Rockland, which was out on the water for more than four hours as part of the search and rescue effort. That effort also included a helicopter circling the region for more than five hours.

Maine Marine Patrol officers also were searching in their own vessel.

If convicted, Libby faces imprisonment of not more than five years, and a fine not to exceed two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000), or both. The offense is a Class D felony.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657