Stonington Man Sentenced to Seven Years for Arson of a Lobster Boat

Contact: James M. Moore
Assistant United States Attorney
Tel: (207) 945-0373

Bangor, Maine:  United States Attorney Thomas E. Delahanty II announced that Jeremy Eaton, 39, of Stonington, Maine, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr. to seven years in prison and three years of supervised release for arson of a lobster boat.  He pled guilty to the charge on March 11, 2016.

Court records reveal that on the evening of April 16, 2014, Eaton walked to Stonington Harbor, removed gasoline cans from a skiff docked in the harbor and then used a small boat to transport himself and the gas cans to a fiberglass lobster boat which was moored in the harbor.  Eaton then emptied the cans of gasoline into the lobster boat and started a fire which destroyed the boat.  Eaton later admitted to others that he had burned the boat. 

In imposing the seven-year sentence, Judge Woodcock remarked, “To destroy a lobsterman’s boat is to destroy his livelihood.” 

The investigation was conducted by the Maine State Fire Marshal’s Office and the U.S. Coast Guard.