NORFOLK, Va. – A defiant Maryland man who faked his death by jumping into the Chesapeake Bay near Virginia Beach has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison.
Sixty-year-old Larry Deffenbaugh was convicted in May of conspiracy and communicating a false distress signal.
Deffenbaugh's brother reported him missing from a fishing boat they had rented in 2009, two days before he was to be sentenced on a probation violation in Maryland. Coast Guard crews searched for Deffenbaugh for 15 hours. He was found in Texas last year using a different name.
Deffenbaugh maintained that he was innocent during sentencing Monday. He compared himself to a falsely accused Jesus during a lengthy speech.
He's been ordered to pay more than $200,000 restitution to the Coast Guard.
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