Attorney Misconduct, Drinking

OUI Lawyer Accused In Drunken Boating Accident After Girl Loses Arm

You'll never believe what this criminal defense attorney named his boat.

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This past weekend, Benjamin Urbelis, a Massachusetts criminal defense attorney who specializes in operating-under-the-influence cases, learned what it was like to be on the wrong side of the law after being charged with drunkenly operating his aptly named pleasure boat, “Naut Guilty.” Ugh, of course that’s what a criminal defense attorney named his boat.

One of Urbelis’s passengers, a 19-year-old woman, lost her arm during the chaotic incident. The Boston Globe has all of the gory details on this OUI attorney’s alleged OUI:

The distress calls over the radio were loud and clipped and they kept coming. “Mayday! Mayday!” …

Minutes before the distress plea, the boat was seen swerving through the remains of the Long Island Bridge, maneuvering the wrong way through the passage, a witness said. Urbelis attempted to anchor near Spectacle Island, and 19-year-old Nicole Berthiaume of Auburn jumped over the side to retrieve a seat cushion that had blown into the water, prosecutors say.

As she struggled to climb aboard, the Naut Guilty’s propeller cut off her arm above the elbow.

Berthiaume ultimately survived the tragic accident, but her arm was never recovered.

Urbelis, a graduate of Suffolk Law who was admitted to practice in 2008, is also an apparent playboy — he’s a part owner of Boston’s Julep Bar and a founder of Top Shelf Entertainment. Urbelis was carrying nine women, ages 19 to 22, aboard his doomed vessel when Berthiaume’s arm was severed. Police say Urbelis was “drunk and belligerent” after the accident, and at his arraignment, was still wearing a pair of swim trunks.

Urbelis initially refused any field sobriety tests, prosecutors said. When he allegedly consented to a breath test about four hours later, his blood-alcohol level was measured at .09, according to Assistant District Attorney Nicole Rimar — over the legal limit of .08 for both land and water.

This isn’t Urbelis’s first time at the OUI rodeo. Per Massachusetts Registry of Motor Vehicles records dug up by the Boston Globe, Urbelis was arrested when he was 16 for driving under the influence, and had his license suspended for that drunk-driving charge.

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Urbelis pleaded not guilty to operating a boat while under the influence causing serious bodily injury, negligent operation of a boat, and operating a motorboat without a legally required identification number. He’s currently being held in lieu of $75,000 cash bail. If convicted, he faces up to 10 years in jail.

If he’s convicted of these crimes, Benjamin Urbelis may have to retire his boat’s name. This is just an idea, but may we kindly suggest “Very Guilty” as an alternative?

OUI lawyer charged with OUI in arm-severing boating accident [Boston.com]
After woman’s arm was cut off, chaos ensued on boat [Boston Globe]
Owner of Naut Guilty pleads not guilty to drunken boating [Boston Herald]
Defense lawyer in OUI cases is himself charged after woman loses arm in boat accident [ABA Journal]

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