Maritime Injustice: In Secret Settlement Agreement, Federal Judge Bruce Tucker Smith Gave a ONE MONTH Suspension to a Coast Guard-Credentialed Ship Captain Who Was Convicted of a Sex Crime
New York, NY
By: MLAA
Captain Richard T. Hinson is a U.S. Coast Guard-licensed ship captain. He pulls and pushes huge barges all around the east coast of the United States, has crew members who must obey his orders, and carries a great deal of responsibility.
On July 16, 2015 Hinson was at the Lancaster County General District Court in Lancaster, Virginia where he was convicted of (or pled guilty to) a sex crime.
We don’t know what he did, but we know how difficult it is to convict anyone of a sex crime in this country. We know it’s very difficult. And we know defendants very frequently plead down to lesser offenses.
The crime Captain Hinson was convicted of was “Sexual Battery.” Under Virginia law, Sexual Battery is defined as “Sexual Abuse…committed with the intent to sexually molest, arouse, or gratify any person...”
The conviction for Sexual Battery doesn’t appear to have prevented Hinson from continuing his ship-driving career, and doesn’t appear to have initially had any impact on his right to maintain his U.S. Coast Guard-issued Captain’s license. The Coast Guard didn’t hear about it, and didn’t want to hear about it.
For the next 8 months following his conviction, Hinson continued driving his ship, pushing and pulling his cargo around the country as if nothing had happened. But then, on February 20, 2016, Hinson was at the conn of the M/V Fort Pike when he allided with Lighted Buoy #46 in the James River Channel. The allision with the navigational buoy was serious enough to trigger an investigation by the U.S. Coast Guard.
According to documents obtained by MLAA through the Freedom of Information Act, during the Coast Guard’s preliminary marine casualty investigation, the investigating officer conducted a background check on Hinson through the Department of Homeland Security’s “National Targeting Center.”
According to the Coast Guard Investigation Report, this background check revealed that on “16 July 2015 [Hinson] was convicted of violating Code of Virginia § 18.2-67.4 - Sexual Battery…”
A little over a month later, on April 14, 2016, the U.S. Coast Guard initiated an administrative action against Hinson’s U.S. Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential. The Coast Guard’s initial complaint against Hinson sought the revocation of his captain’s license and merchant mariner credential. According to the “Factual Allegations of the Complaint,” the Sexual Battery conviction was “a conviction that would prevent the issuance or renewal of a Merchant Mariner Credential.”
This meant that if Hinson were to attempt to renew his license, or if he were seeking a license for the first time, his application would be–by federal law–denied. Yes, there are laws against convicted sexual predators holding Merchant Mariner credentials and serving as the captains of American commercial vessels. But laws don’t enforce themselves…
When the Coast Guard charged Captain Hinson and sought the revocation of his license, the case was posted to the docket of the U.S. Coast Guard Administrative Law Judge court system. And then a federal maritime judge was assigned to oversee the case. That judge was Bruce Tucker Smith.
According to Judge Bruce Tucker Smith’s bio, he was a retired U.S. Air Force Judge Advocate, having served 21 years as a “decorated military prosecutor, investigator, and Military Judge on active duty and in the reserves.” Judge Smith further claims to have “presided over innumerable hearings involving sensitive and highly-classified matters relating to national security, including several highly publicized trials involving ranking government officials, major air carriers, and licensed maritime officers.”
Before Judge Smith became involved in Hinson’t case, Coast Guard investigators had been seeking to revoke Hinson’s captain’s license and ban him from the maritime industry over his sex crime conviction. But before the hearing, the Coast Guard’s Investigating Officer began negotiations for a Settlement Agreement with Hinson’t attorney. The Investigating Officer entered into those negotiations while knowing that any Settlement Agreement would have to be approved by Judge Smith via a “Consent Order” signed by the judge.
On April 15, 2016, only 1 day after the U.S. Coast Guard served Captain Hinson with the Complaint that sought revocation of his Captain’s license, Judge Bruce Tucker Smith approved a formal Settlement Agreement in Hinson’s case by signing a Consent Order. The highly suspicious timing of events suggest that all of this was in the works from the moment the Coast Guard’s background check pinged Hinson as a sex criminal.
In his very brief Consent Order approving the Settlement Agreement Judge Smith wrote, “I have carefully reviewed the terms of the Settlement Agreement and find that it is fair and reasonable and in substantial compliance with the requirements of 33 CFR 20.502…This Consent Order shall constitute full, final, and complete adjudication of this proceeding.”
The terms that Judge Bruce Tucker Smith found “fair and reasonable” were:
One month outright suspension of Hinson’s Coast Guard Merchant Mariner Credential (MMC)
One year probationary period commencing upon the return of Hinson’s MMC during which time Hinson was prohibited from being convicted of any further sex crimes or any crimes listed in 46 USC §§ 7703, 7704.
Within one month of entering the Settlement Agreement, Captain Hinson was required to be evaluated by a board certified mental health specialist, required to divulge his sex crime convictions to the mental health specialist, and sign a release allowing the Coast Guard to consult with the specialist.
Within one year of entering the Settlement Agreement, Captain Hinson was required to “be making significant progress towards completion of all elements of any course of treatment…and provide the Coast Guard a proof of successful completion of this course of treatment.”
According to the Coast Guard investigation report, Captain Hinson’s license and credential were returned to him on May 25, 2016–just over one month after Judge Smith signed Hinson’s Settlement Agreement.
And then Hinson was back at work as the Captain of a ship, as if nothing had happened.
The Complaint, Settlement Agreement, and Judge Smith’s Consent Order were subquently hidden from the public, and no one, especially not the mariners who served aboard Hinson’s vessels, were ever told about the Settlement Agreement or the fact that Captain Hinson had been convicted of a sex crime.
Captain Hinson received a one month suspension of his license, and Judge Bruce Tucker Smith believed that punishment advanced marine safety, and believed it was fair to the hundreds of thousands of vulnerable mariners in the United States maritime industry who have to work in extremely isolated environments with people Captain Hinson.
That’s Coast Guard justice for you. Or as we call it: “Maritime Injustice.”
Unfortunately, Hinson’s case is not an isolated one. According to thousands of pages of once-secret documents relating to sexual misconduct by Coast Guard-credentialed mariners obtained by Maritime Legal Aid & Advocacy through the Freedom of Information Act, Judge Smith’s shocking actions in this case are part of a disturbing and horrifying official policy within the U.S. Coast Guard and its judicial system.
Coast Guard investigators, prosecutors, and the federal judges who are supposed to provide oversight systematically seek to resolve shocking cases of sexual misconduct through quick and secret settlement agreements with sexual predators that result in little to no punishment, thereby allowing the U.S. Coast Guard to quickly dispense with cases they do not care about and do not want to involve themselves with.
Judge Smith never thought that anyone would find out about his consent order approving Captain Hinson’s Settlement Agreement. Judge Bruce Tucker Smith did not believe the public would find out that he had allowed known sexual predators to serve in positions of the highest authority within the maritime industry, or that he placed an untold number of mariners in danger of becoming victims of shipboard sexual violence themselves.
But we did find out.