Ship pilot in oil spill is accused of lying on drug use

The pilot of the container ship that spilled 53,000 gallons of oil into San Francisco Bay was charged Tuesday with two felony counts of lying to Coast Guard officials about his prescription drug use.

Capt. John Cota, 60, previously had been charged with two misdemeanor environmental crimes for his role in the Nov. 7 accident, which fouled the bay, killed or injured thousands of birds and forced the closure of Bay Area beaches.

The new, more serious charges accuse Cota of lying on annual medical reports in 2006 and 2007 required by the Coast Guard.

The indictment alleges that Cota “knew that the information he provided was neither complete nor true, including the information . . . regarding current medications, the dosage, possible side effects and medical conditions for which the medications were taken,” according to the U.S. attorney’s office.

The indictment, which includes the two previous charges, didn’t provide details about the drugs Cota allegedly lied about or neglected to include on the two annual medical reports.

The freighter Cosco Busan leaked bunker fuel into the ecologically sensitive bay after sideswiping a support tower of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy morning fog.

Federal investigators told the National Transportation Safety Board last week that Cota had a drunk driving conviction and took numerous prescription drugs that could have impaired his judgment.

The NTSB was told that Cota was prescribed many pills, including Lorazepam, an anti-anxiety drug; Imitrex for migraines; Provigil to increase wakefulness; and Darvon Compound 65 for pain.

“These new felony allegations, aside from not being provable, bear no relevance whatsoever to the causes or consequences of the Cosco Busan oil spill,” said the pilot’s lawyer, Jeff Bornstein.

He said Cota was not under the influence while at the helm of the Cosco Busan and that he passed drug and alcohol tests administered two hours after the crash.

Bornstein complained that federal investigators have focused their criminal probe solely on Cota when the ship’s Chinese crew and the Coast Guard shared responsibility.