Hollywood charter captain had six migrants on his boat off Haulover Beach, feds say
.jpg "A Hollywood, Florida, man faces human smuggling charges after Customs agents boarded his boat off Haulover Beach and found six migrants on board, according to a federal complaint.")
A Hollywood man who runs a party charter boat out of Hollywood was arrested last week after federal agents say they found six migrants of three different nationalities stowed on his vessel when they boarded it during a stop off Haulover Beach.
Two of the people on board are from Jamaica; two from Guyana; and another pair from Haiti, according to a criminal complaint from U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.
Agents with Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations stopped the 50-foot cabin cruiser about a mile and a half off Haulover Beach around 7:30 p.m. Friday. The man at the helm, 59-year-old Peter Sterz, repeatedly denied there was anyone else on the boat below deck in the cabins.
However, when agents checked, they found the six people, according to the Jan. 6 complaint filed in U.S. Southern District Court.
“None of these individuals possessed documents that would allow them to enter the United States,” the complaint states.
Agents were tracking the boat before stopping it as it was heading west from the Bahamas, according to the complaint.
Sterz, who did not respond to an emailed request for comment, was arrested Friday on human smuggling charges. He was released from custody Monday after posting a $250,000 personal surety bond. That means he did not have to put up any money, but if he does not show up for his next scheduled court appearance, he must pay the full amount.
Sterz advertises his Cranchi yacht for charters on the website boatsetter.com. The services he offers are overnight trips to Bimini in the Bahamas, bachelor and birthday parties and swim trips to the Haulover sandbar, according to the website.
His attorney listed in court filings is a federal public defender, who also did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
