A man of Boca Raton, Florida, caused panic after he faked his own death to avoid arrest.
46-year-old Richard Winsor Ohrn did so after he was accused of stealing over $15,000 from an elderly couple while working as a financial adviser.
In order to avoid arrest, Ohrn made it seem like he went missing while out at sea. He rented a Sea Ray boat, which he took out to the ocean.
The motor boat was later spotted at a Boyton Beach Inlet with no passengers aboard, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard to begin a frantic search.
Police believe that Ohrn deliberately abandoned the boat to make it look like he was missing. He then used an inflatable boat, which he bought earlier that week, to make it back to shore.
He then and drove to Georgia, where he hid in an apartment, before being arrested three days later.
He now pleaded guilty to communicating a false distress message.
Under the terms of his plea agreement, Ohrn will have to pay $1 million in restitution for the cost of the search.
The maximum penalty for the offense is six years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.
However, Ohrn may be sentenced to probation if he does as he was ordered by the judge. He must sell his house, which has a value of $550,000 and reveal details of all his assets to the government before he is sentenced in October.
