For the families of the victims of the deadly Conception boat fire off the Santa Barbara coast, no sentence is long enough.
"We are in a living hell every day," said Robert Kurtz, father of victim Allie Kurtz.
After hours of emotionally charged testimony from 17 members of victims’ families, 70-year-old Jerry Boylan was sentenced by a federal judge to four years in prison and three years of supervised release.
Many of the victims’ family members were unhappy with the judge's ruling.
"Extremely disappointed. I feel that the court system let us down again," Kurtz continued.
Just after 3 a.m. on September 2, 2019, the dive boat MV Conception caught fire. Boylan, the captain, and all but one crew member abandoned the ship leaving 34 people still onboard, trapped in the lower sleeping quarters, leading to the charges of gross criminal negligence against the captain.
Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney, stressed after the hearing that the deaths were avoidable had the proper safety protocols been followed and the crew trained on emergency response.
"This defendant never accepted responsibility for his actions, but he was convicted. Thankfully, a jury convicted him of his crime, and he was sentenced to four years," Estrada said.
Estrada went on to say they wanted a 10-year sentence but that they respected the judge’s decision.
Family members of the victims repeatedly said the sentence felt unjust but mostly they were angered by the lack of accountability.
"He never once said, I was wrong. That’s the part that angers me. He never accepted responsibility for his role in this. He never has and I bet he never will," said James Adamic, who lost his sister, brother-in-law and niece on the boat.
Boylan was taken into custody following sentencing and a restitution hearing was set for July 2.
