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SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ― The pilot at the helm of the cargo ship that caused a massive oil spill in the San Francisco Bay pleaded guilty Friday to two environmental crimes.

In exchange for Capt. John Cota's guilty pleas to misdemeanor charges of illegally discharging oil and killing birds, federal prosecutors dropped two felony charges that Cota lied on annual medical forms required by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The plea bargain calls for Cota, 61, of Petaluma, to serve between two months and 10 months in prison, though the deal needs the approval of U.S. District Judge Susan Illston. Cota is scheduled to be sentenced June 19.

Cota was at the helm of the 900-foot Cosco Busan when it slammed into the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in heavy fog on Nov. 7, 2007, spilling oil that killed and injured thousands of birds and spoiled miles of beaches and coastline, plus disrupted the fishing industry.

Cleanup costs have been estimated at more than $70 million.

John Cruden, the acting assistant U.S. attorney general in charge of the U.S. Justice Department's environmental division, said Friday's "guilty plea is a reminder that the Cosco Busan crash was not just an accident, but a criminal act."

Cota admitted in the written plea agreement that "my negligence was a proximate cause of the discharge of approximately 53,000 gallons of heavy fuel oil into San Francisco Bay."

He acknowledged in the document that he failed to discuss the ship's intended passage out of the Port of Oakland with the ship's Chinese captain and crew, except in a very general way.

Cota also admitted he failed to use a paper chart or radar to verify the meaning of two unfamiliar red triangle symbols on the ship's electronic chart system.

The symbols turned out to mark buoys floating in front of and behind the bridge support tower. Outside of court, in a statement submitted to the National Transportation Safety Board, Cota has said the captain told him the symbols indicated the center of the bridge, which Cota interpreted to mean the center of the span between two piers.

Federal prosecutor Jonathan Schmidt told the judge friday that "Captain Cota did not adequately review his intended course with the crew."

"Captain Cota's actions that day fell below the standard of care," he said, noting that all container ships are operated by local pilots when they travel within the San Francisco Bay.

Cota's lawyer Jeff Bornstein told the judge his client was "remorseful for his role" and "accepts his responsibility for his part in the accident."

But Bornstein contended that Cota had been made a scapegoat and that there was a "chain of errors" by others as well.

"The crew was incompetent," Bornstein said. "The Coast Guard made mistakes."

The NTSB said last month that Cota's prescription medications impaired his performance. The NTSB was told that Cota was prescribed many pills, including lorazepam, an anti-anxiety drug, imitrex for migraines, provigil to increase wakefulness, and darvon compound 65 for pain.

Bornstein insisted Friday that despite that report, there is "absolutely no evidence" that Cota was impaired by prescription drugs.

The board also blamed other factors for the crash. It stressed that the captain failed to oversee the pilot's performance, and said the two poorly communicated what efforts should be undertaken to guide the ship through dense fog.

The board also found that the ship's Hong Kong-based operator, Fleet Management, Ltd., didn't properly train and prepare crew members before the accident, and the Coast Guard failed to provide adequate medical oversight of the pilot.

Fleet Management has pleaded not guilty to felony charges of obstruction of justice. The company is charged with ordering at least one Chinese crew member to alter documents after the accident.

Cota also faces fines for his role in the disaster, but his lawyer and prosecutors agreed to let the amount Cota has to pay be determined by resolution of several lawsuits in which he's named, along with the ship's owner and operator that were filed by federal, state and local governments to recoup the cost of the cleanup.
 
Bornstein said Cota "has been vilified by the media, lost his job, will now go to jail for at least 60 days and still suffers under the weight of crushing civil lawsuits."

But Joseph Russoniello, the U.S. attorney in San Francisco, disagreed, saying "John Cota was an experienced ship pilot who was handsomely compensated for his special knowledge of ships and expertise in local waters. His failure to act prudently under the circumstances caused a major environmental disaster that could have been far worse."

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