TRAVERSE CITY, MI — A Michigan lighthouse owner is accused of playing Coast Guard officer on the Great Lakes while illegally dumping sewage into Lake Michigan, according to a newly announced federal indictment.
Brent Alan Tompkins, 52, of Traverse City, co-owns the iconic red-and-white striped White Shoal Lighthouse, roughly 20 miles west of the Mackinac Bridge. Tompkins and co-owner Mike Lynch purchased the historic offshore lighthouse at a federal auction for $110,009 in 2016 and have worked to restore it.
But federal prosecutors say Tompkins crossed the line from lighthouse enthusiast to alleged Coast Guard impersonator. Investigators claim he operated a vessel displaying markings resembling U.S. Coast Guard insignia and represented himself as a Coast Guard member while dealing with a distressed mariner in Emmet County.
Authorities also allege Tompkins discharged pollutants into Lake Michigan at White Shoal Light. The allegations were investigated over roughly two years by the Coast Guard Investigative Service and the Michigan Department of Natural Resources Environmental Investigations Section on behalf of EGLE.
“The public has a right to know when they are dealing with a properly trained public official — and when they are not,” U.S. Attorney Timothy VerHey said, particularly when someone is facing danger on the water. He summed up the government’s view of the case more sharply: “This is no place for impersonators and wannabes.”
Tompkins is charged with false impersonation of a federal officer, unauthorized use of Coast Guard insignia and illegally discharging a pollutant into navigable waters. Prosecutors say a conviction could bring up to three years in prison, along with Clean Water Act fines of at least $5,000 for each day a violation occurred.
