A Florida tugboat captain has pleaded guilty after his vessel slammed into a sailboat near Miami Beach last summer, killing three young girls who were attending a youth sailing camp.
Yusiel Lopez Insua was charged earlier this year with seaman’s manslaughter in connection with the deadly July 2025 collision, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida.
Insua initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea during a court hearing on Tuesday, July 21.
The federal charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. However, prosecutors have reportedly agreed to recommend a significantly lighter punishment under a plea deal approved by the victims’ families.
Court documents cited by CBS and the Miami Herald indicate prosecutors will recommend that Insua serve one year in prison, followed by six months of home detention.
His attorney, Walter A. Reynoso, said Insua decided to plead guilty so the grieving families would not be forced to endure a painful trial.
“He will not put the families through a trial and expose them to relive this terrible tragedy,” Reynoso told Local 10 News.
The attorney said his client remains devastated by the consequences of the crash.
“He feels awful,” Reynoso said, according to CBS. “He feels awful about the unimaginable pain and loss suffered by the three families who lost three very young daughters.”
The victims were identified as 7-year-old Mila Yankelevich, 10-year-old Arielle Buchman and 13-year-old Erin Victoria Ko.
The girls were participating in a youth sailing camp when the tugboat and barge struck their sailboat in Biscayne Bay. Two other children and an adult counselor aboard the sailboat survived.
Investigators alleged that Insua was using his cellphone around the time of the collision. According to a criminal complaint, cellphone data showed activity on internet marketplaces, including at the moment the crash occurred.
Prosecutors said Insua was operating a tugboat that was pushing a barge loaded with construction debris. A deckhouse and crane on the vessel reportedly blocked his forward view.
The children’s sailboat had stalled after losing wind and was sitting in the barge’s path. Authorities said Insua failed to spot the smaller vessel because no crew member had been assigned to serve as a lookout.
Reynoso previously said in April that Insua planned to accept responsibility for his actions.
Insua is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 13, 2026.
