He jumped the shark one too many poker games ago.
A passenger aboard a Royal Caribbean cruise ship tossed himself overboard into the open sea during an alleged attempt to avoid paying a staggering $16,000 gambling debt racked up over the vacation.
Jey Gonzalez-Diaz set sail on the Rhapsody of the Seas for a week-long holiday in which he threw caution to the wind and gambled his heart out, according to authorities.
The ship completed its voyage Sunday when it pulled into the Port of San Juan.
While the ship was returning to port, Gonzalez-Diaz realized his supposed error and pitched himself into the water as the cruise was disembarking shortly after 9 a.m. local time, according to a criminal complaint obtained by CBS News.
Someone passing by on a jet ski then helped him to shore, according to surveillance video.
Gonzalez-Diaz was later tracked down by US Customs and Border Protection officers near the Puerto Rico Capitol Building. He was apprehended while carrying two phones, five IDs and $14,600 in cash — roughly $2,000 short of his $16,710 debt racked up while gambling, according to the complaint.
Some of his dubious identities listed him as Jeremy Diaz and Jeremy Omar Gonzalez-Diaz. An individual with the latter name had previously been in federal custody at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Puerto Rico since January, according to the complaint.
Gonzalez-Diaz claimed that the federal custody link they found was for his brother’s detention.
When he was pressed for his full name, he told the officers that “[i]f you guys were good at your job, you would know that,” according to the complaint.
He also told officers in Spanish that he leapt overboard because “he did not want to report the currency on his possession because he thought he was going to be taxed duties for bringing the currency,” according to the complaint.
Gonzalez-Diaz is accused of attempting to avoid monetary reporting requirements when traveling into the US and could face a fine of up to $250,000 or a maximum five-year prison sentence if convicted.
He was released on bail, local media outlet Wapa.TV reported.
The Post reached out to Royal Caribbean Cruises for comment.
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