Man Gets 4 Years for Prank Calling Coast Guard

A man accused of making prank calls to the Coast Guard and reporting a fake space shuttle threat has been sentenced to four years in prison.

He was sentenced in Orlando Tuesday.

Prosecutors claim 22-year-old Nicholas Barbati made a distress call in 2008 to the Coast Guard claiming he was on a yacht that was taking on water off the New York coast. He also pretended to be a Coast Guard official and called into a secure federal line to report a supposed threat to space shuttle Endeavor before it was set to launch.

Prosecutors also said he ran an online prostitution service and used the women's personal information to file false tax returns.

He had pleaded guilty in August to three federal charges.

Prosecutors say he made more than 500 hoax calls through his computer.