Cruise Passenger Rick Ehlert Pleads Guilty To Dropping 18-Ton Anchor

TAMPA, Fla. -- A California man has pleaded guilty to dropping an anchor on a Tampa-bound cruise ship.

Federal prosecutors in Tampa said Friday that 45-year-old Rick Ehlert pleaded guilty to one count of attempting to damage a maritime facility. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Authorities say the MS Ryndam was traveling from Costa Maya, Mexico, to Tampa on Nov. 27, 2010. A surveillance video shows Ehlert entering a restricted area and dropping the 18-ton stern anchor.

When confronted by authorities, Ehlert told them he was drunk at the time. He also said the cruise ship's anchor system was similar to the system on his own 50-foot boat.

Investigators say the Holland America ship avoided damage because the anchor didn't hit the sea floor.

Comments

[achiphunter]

01:28 PM on 08/31/2011

ohh so this is a news anchor !

[nikau nikau]

02:31 AM on 08/30/2011

What do you do with a drunken sailor,
What do you do with a drunken sailor,
What do you do with a drunken sailor,
Earl-eye in the morning!

Put him the back of the paddy wagon,
Put him the back of the paddy wagon,
Put him the back of the paddy wagon,
Earl-eye in the morning!

[Nancy Patterson]

11:21 PM on 08/29/2011

Drunk or not, a grown-_ss man knows that restricted areas do not include him and if he has a boat himself, he knows dropping anchor is the opposite of right.
Sentence him to eternity in a 12 step. "its not the 1st anchor that kills.. its all the anchors after that."

[pooh bear]

03:09 PM on 08/29/2011

While I'm not knowledgeable about how Florida courts work, here's my guesstimate of his sentence: 5 years prison with 4 years suspended on the condition he doesn't commit another felony, Court costs + full restitution to the cruise line for any damages, alcohol/drug abuse assessment and treatment as needed.

I do hope this idiot does spend some time in jail. At least after he sobered up he did admit what he had done.

[owboky]

02:44 PM on 08/23/2011

Keelhauling will teach him not to touch that anchor mat'e

[sugarpops]

01:48 PM on 08/27/2011

Wicked!!! F&F

[carnivaluv]

08:23 PM on 08/22/2011

Why in the world would something so dangerous and restricted be accessible to possibly drunk, non thinking passengers anyways?

[YOKEL13]

04:40 PM on 08/22/2011

"Guilty of dropping an 18 ton anchor?" Did they expect him to stand there and HOLD it?

[rlh4488]

04:38 PM on 08/22/2011

The guy should get the full twenty. I was an engineer on this type of ship. You can't imagine the amount of damage, (or death) that could have occured if the anchor had hit bottom and dug in.

[celticfireusa]

09:36 AM on 08/22/2011

Probability get a big time out...

[janeyre]

09:09 AM on 08/22/2011

What a dork...

[sugarpops]

01:49 PM on 08/27/2011

What a bone head....

[Sabrina Horn]

09:18 PM on 08/21/2011

ok really..a man drops an anchor and gets 20 years but a woman kills her child and she is free. what is wrong w/our legal system.

[SpookyAnnya]

09:50 PM on 08/21/2011

there was no video. Oh but there was, huh?

[GraphicMatt]

04:01 PM on 08/22/2011

Well you see, the jury found one not guilty and the other plead out before a trial needed to be held. I didn't think it was that hard to understand.

[Michael Hallmark]

06:15 PM on 08/21/2011

i want to see this story on broadcast TV - a news anchor with anchor news

[rlcorny]

03:51 PM on 08/21/2011

Some of these posts are really crazy. It's like saying that we should give the attempted murderer a hand slap just because the victim is still alive.

[terriblyconfused]

11:37 AM on 08/21/2011

Friends don't let friends drop anchors while drunk.

[Rachelsono]

10:56 AM on 08/21/2011

Ok so I am really ignorant to anything boating because I'm petrified of the water... So, without any smart a** comments can someone explain how and why hitting the sea floor causes damage. I'm guessing it's bad judging by the comments on here.

[HappyBrit]

11:01 AM on 08/21/2011

Newworldman777 pretty much nailed it, below.

[Michael Hallmark]

06:12 PM on 08/21/2011

Imagine you're driving down the road, and someone tosses a chain out the window of your car that has one end also attached to your car. it would bounce around, and make a lot of noise, but nothing horrific happens. Now imagine the chain has an enormous hook on the other end of it and that hook catches a stationary light pole while you're in motion. Everything on your car the chain is attached to will be ripped away or damaged depending on the speed you're going.

An ocen liner has tremendous mass to it, so there is no doubt the damage to the anchoring system would have been profound if the anchor had found some rock outcropping on the sea floor to get caught on.

[GraphicMatt]

04:03 PM on 08/22/2011

Tie a chain with a hook on the end of it around your waist. Now run as fast and hard as you can with the chain hooked to something solid. Keep running. What happened when you ran out of slack chain?