WASHINGTON ( CNN ) -- The bay pilot who steered a container ship into the San Francisco Bay Bridge in 2007 , causing a massive oil spill , pleaded guilty Friday to violating misdemeanor pollution laws and faces up to 10 months in prison , federal prosecutors said . The Korean-flagged Cosco Busan rammed into San Francisco 's Bay Bridge on November 7 , 2007 . Prosecutors dropped felony charges against him . John Joseph Cota , 61 , pleaded guilty to violating the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 , a law enacted in the wake of the Exxon Valdez oil spill in Alaska , and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act . Cota gave orders to officers controlling the Korean-flagged Cosco Busan as the ship was leaving fog-shrouded San Francisco Bay , California , on November 7 , 2007 . The 901-foot ship struck fenders around the base of a bridge support tower , rupturing two of the ship 's fuel tanks and spilling about 53,000 gallons of oil into the bay . At least 2,000 migratory birds were killed . At the time , officials estimated clean-up costs at $ 60 million . `` Today 's guilty plea is a reminder that the Cosco Busan crash was not just an accident , but a criminal act , '' said John C. Cruden , acting assistant attorney general for the Justice Department 's Environment and Natural Resources Division . `` John Cota was an experienced ship pilot that 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 , '' said Joseph Russoniello , U.S. attorney for the Northern District of California . Cota has piloted about 4,000 ships in the bay during his 27-year career , said his attorney , Jeffrey Bornstein . Bonstein said Cota is remorseful and accepts responsibility for his part in the accident . But Bornstein also criticized the accident investigation . He said it was unfair and protected others who also bear responsibility . `` Captain 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 , '' Bornstein said . `` He understands and accepts responsibility for his part in the accident and hopes that others will step forward and accept their roles and responsibilities as well . '' Cota will be sentenced to 2 to 10 months in prison and be fined between $ 3,000 and $ 30,000 , if the plea terms are accepted by U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston . Sentencing is scheduled for June 19 . Prosecutors said the plea included factual admissions by Cota , including an acknowledgment his negligence `` was a proximate cause of the [ oil ] discharge . '' Cota also admitted that he failed to discuss the planned route with the ship 's master or crew as required , or to use the ship 's radar in the final approach to the bridge . He also failed to recognize two red triangles on the ship 's electronic chart system that marked bridge tower buoys . Attorney Bornstein said the ship 's master told Cota the red triangles represented the lights on the bridge , `` which in Capt . Cota 's knowledge were at the center of the span . He had no reason to think that the master did n't know what he was talking about . '' See the path . As part of the plea agreement with Cota , the government agreed to dismiss false statement charges pending against him . Those charges alleged that Cota failed to disclose his medications on required Coast Guard forms . The court ruled those charges would be tried separately . But Cota admitted in the plea papers filed Friday his 2006 physical exam form failed to disclose some of the medications he was prescribed . Among them were two pain medications , three different drugs prescribed as sleeping aids and an antidepressant prescribed for an off-brand purpose . Bornstein said there is no evidence that medication played any role in the accident . At Friday 's hearing , Illston set trial for the remaining defendant in the case , the ship 's manager , Fleet Management Ltd. ( Hong Kong ) , for Sept. 14 . The charges include acting negligently , killing protected migratory birds , obstructing justice and making false statements by falsifying ship records after the incident .
John Joseph Cota pleads guilty to violating misdemeanor pollution laws . The pilot faces up to 10 months in prison , federal prosecutors say . Container ship Cosco Busan slammed into San Francisco 's Bay Bridge in 2007 . Massive oil spill killed more than 2,000 birds and cost $ 60 million to clean up .