Traveling on a luxury cruise is all fun and games until playing at the casino leads to a bizarre situation. Jey Gonzalez-Diaz boarded the Royal Caribbean cruise line, Rhapsody of the Seas, on August 31 at a port in Puerto Rico.
When the cruise ship was returning from Barbados, Gonzalez-Diaz jumped overboard as the cruise was disembarking at around 9:15 a.m. local time during the U.S. Customs and Border Protection inspection, CBS News reports.
According to the criminal complaint and surveillance footage, he didn’t get too far as a passerby brought him back on a jet ski. Authorities later caught up with him near the Puerto Rico Capitol Building.
The complaint states that Gonzalez-Diaz was in possession of $14,600 in cash, two phones, and five IDs. He explained to the authorities that he jumped overboard to avoid paying tax duties on the money he had. But that wasn’t the full story.
Royal Caribbean released the information that Gonzalez-Diaz was actually booked on the cruise under the name Jeremy Díaz. A further investigation proved the name belongs to Jeremy Omar Gonzalez-Diaz, who has been in federal custody in Puerto Rico since January, and happens to be his brother.
“If you guys were good at your job, you would know that,” the complaint said when he was asked for his full name.
In reality, Jey Gonzalez-Diaz racked up a $16,710.24 debt with the cruise line from Casino and Gaming Expenses. He has since been charged with a federal crime, but was recently released on bail. If convicted, he faces a $25,000 fine or five years in prison.
