Jet Blast Owner Tim Wilson Got 18 Months of Home Detention in a 2015 Double-Fatal Crash into Key Bridge After a Night of Bar-hopping by Boat
WILL TIMMY GET TIRED OF HBO WHILE HE SITS HOME BY HIS POOL DRINKING MARGUERITAS?
A Baltimore man was sentenced to 18 months of home detention for causing a violent boat crash in 2015 that killed two women and injured five others near the Key Bridge.
Timothy Jay Wilson, 57, owner of Jet Blast, was convicted in Baltimore County Circuit Court of two counts of negligent manslaughter and one count of causing life-threatening injuries with a vessel while intoxicated. Charges were brought by Maryland Natural Resources Police after a four-month investigation.
The judgment came exactly two years from the day Wilson invited seven people celebrating a birthday at a Dundalk restaurant to go with him on a boat ride to Fells Point bars.
On their way back to Bear Creek at about 2:30 a.m. July 26, Wilson’s 34-foot boat slammed into one of four lighted concrete structures that mark the main shipping channel and protect the bridge.
On their way back to Bear Creek at about 2:30 a.m. July 26, Wilson’s 34-foot boat slammed into one of four lighted concrete structures that mark the main shipping channel and protect the bridge. The boat then careened into the seawall at Fort Carroll, where it stopped.
Two passengers—Windy Lawson, 37, and Kimberly Ervin, 45, both of Baltimore, were ejected from their seats near the bow and killed. They were not wearing life jackets. The victims, some clinging to the vessel, called 911 and were rescued by first responders. The two bodies were recovered later that day.
A grand jury concluded Wilson was “grossly negligent” and indicted him on 16 counts, including homicide by vessel and manslaughter. Wilson entered an Alford plea on three charges, meaning he did not plead guilty but acknowledged prosecutors had sufficient evidence for the conviction.
Wilson was sentenced to 12 years in prison, with all but 18 months suspended. The court recommended that the time is served at home. Wilson also will be required to complete five years of supervised probation.
The plea deal with Baltimore County States Attorney Scott Shellenberger was worked out with Wilson’s attorney, David B. Irwin, of Towson, Md., after numerous postponements, the plea was made on Feb. 27, 2017, and the disposition with the extremely lenient terms was announced by the Court on July 25, 2017.
The resulting sentence would be viewed by many as a sweet deal for a simple DWI or Boating While Impaired conviction, not to mention the two lives lost due to Wilson’s careless conduct which was an expected result of drinking and operating a vessel – not an “accident”. The deal agreed to by Shellenberger with the business owner is another example of tough-talking prosecutors dealing out uneven justice through plea deals.
The deal agreed to by Shellenberger with the business owner is another example of tough-talking prosecutors dealing out uneven justice through plea deals.
