January 24

Ex-Coast Guardsman sentenced for hoax call in Maine

Shane Coxon, 24, was stationed at the Coast Guard base in South Portland in 2010 when he reported a flare sighting off of Old Orchard Beach.

The Associated Press

PORTLAND — A federal judge has ordered a former U.S. Coast Guardsman to pay nearly $5,000 in restitution for calling in a hoax report of a distress flare being sighted off the Maine coast.

The U.S. Attorney's office in Portland said 24-year-old Shane Coxon was sentenced last Friday in federal court in Washington state to the 3½ months he had already served while also ordering him to pay for the costs of a Coast Guard search following the false report.

Court records show that Coxon was stationed at the Coast Guard base in South Portland in July 2010 when he called the guard's command center, provided a false name and reported a flare sighting off of Old Orchard Beach. A flare is a universally recognized marine distress signal.

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