Repeat DUI arrest for Cumming man convicted in fatal Lake Lanier crash

Paul Bennett of Cumming, the Forsyth County man convicted in the fatal 2012 Lake Lanier boating crash that killed two Prince brothers, was arrested again in court last week during a DUI hearing.

The new arrest put the spotlight back on a case that has long stood as one of Georgia’s most closely watched boating prosecutions. Bennett’s boat collided with a pontoon carrying the Prince family around 10:30 p.m. on June 18, 2012, with 13 people aboard. Jake Prince, 9, and Griffin Prince, 13, were thrown into the water. Ryan Prince, the oldest brother, pulled Jake from the lake, but Jake could not be revived. Griffin’s body was found nine days later, 113 feet underwater.

Bennett was arrested the day after the crash and convicted in November 2012 of boating under the influence, reckless operation of a vessel and failure to render aid. A jury acquitted him of homicide by vessel. The sentence handed down in the case included 30 months in prison, 18 months on probation and 400 hours of community service. Court records and later reporting said he was also barred from operating a boat in Georgia.

The Bennett case did not end there. He was jailed again in 2017 for violating parole after missing a urine screening and then failing a screening appointment, deepening concerns about whether punishment and supervision were sufficient to curb repeat risky behavior.

The Lake Lanier tragedy also helped drive changes in Georgia boating law. After the 2012 deaths, the state lowered the legal blood alcohol limit for boat operators to 0.08. Georgia boating rules now also require people born on or after January 1, 1998, to complete an approved boating education course before operating a motorized vessel.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources says boating under the influence applies not only to boats, but also to sailboats, personal watercraft, water skis, sailboards and similar devices. The department also says refusing a chemical test can lead to a loss of boating privileges for up to one year.

For Forsyth County, the latest arrest returns attention to a case that still shapes local thinking about accountability on Lake Lanier, where a fatal night in 2012 continues to define the public safety stakes of drunk boating.