Man Held for Trial in Mexican Gun Case
A judge ruled Wednesday that a ship’s captain from Orange County must stand trial on charges of bringing guns illegally into Mexico, but dropped charges against the man’s 71-year-old father and the first mate.
Judge Fidel Villanueva said probable cause existed that Scott McClung, 36, as captain of the ship, had tried to bring weapons into Mexico clandestinely when he sailed his father’s new 150-foot ship into the harbor of Cozumel Island on Aug. 10. There were two rifles and three shotguns on board, authorities said.
The judge ordered McClung, 36, to be jailed pending the trial, which under Mexican law could take as long as a year to get under way. A conviction carries a sentence of five to 30 years.
Defense lawyers said they would appeal the judge’s ruling.
The judge dropped charges against McClung’s father, Eugene McClung, of Laguna Beach, and first mate Noah Bailey, of Dana Point, and ordered the two released from jail.
The three men denied charges that they tried to conceal the weapons.
The $4.5-million vessel was en route from Florida, where it was built, through the Panama Canal to Long Beach, its new home port for religious mission trips and biology research.
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