Man ordered to pay $15K for intentionally destroying boat in Lake Ontario

GREECE, N.Y. — A judge has ordered a man to pay over $15,400 after he intentionally destroyed a boat in Lake Ontario, setting off a search-and rescue mission.

Vyacheslav Migitskiy, a 34-year-old Ukrainian national living in Rochester, was convicted of making a materially false statement. He was sentenced to pay the fine.

News10NBC reported on pieces of the power boat washing ashore along Edgemere Drive in Greece back in September of 2022. Neighbors around the lake found a steering compartment, the fuel tank, and big pieces of fiberglass onshore.

Federal attorneys say Migitskiy towed a 25-foot boat out onto Lake Ontario and tried to sink it in August of 2022. The next day, the U.S. Coast Guard began a search-and-rescue mission, with the help of the New York State Police and other agencies, after witnesses came across the half-sunken boat. The mission cost over $15,000 and involved aircrafts and SCUBA teams. Soon, they determined that no one was on the boat.

That October, a U.S. Coast Guard agent spoke with Migitskiy. According to attorneys, Migitskiy lied by saying he donated the boat to someone else, then gave a false description of that person and how they took the boat from his property.

Monroe County sheriff’s deputies, New York State Police, and others were also involved with the investigation.