Crime · Miami, FL
Tugboat Operator Sentenced to 18 Months for Fatal Biscayne Bay Collision
A federal judge sentenced tugboat operator Yusiel Lopez Insua, 47, to 18 months in prison Tuesday for the July 28, 2025 collision on Biscayne Bay that killed three girls—Mila Yankelevich (7), Erin Victoria Ko Han (13), and Arielle Mazi Buchman (10)—attending a Miami Yacht Club sailing camp. U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Becerra rejected the lower sentence recommended by both prosecutors and the defense, comparing Lopez Insua's operation of a tugboat pushing a barge with an obstructed view and no functioning lookout to driving blindfolded on Interstate 95. Lopez Insua pleaded guilty in July to seaman's manslaughter after the construction barge ran over the girls' sailboat; a camp counselor and two other girls survived.