A New Jersey criminal defense attorney died while leading a shipwreck salvage operation about 200 miles off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
Joseph Mazraani, a member of a New Brunswick law firm and co-owner of Atlantic Wreck Salvage, dived from the deck of the research vessel Tenacious on July 29. According to the company, he suffered a fatal medical emergency underwater. His crew pulled him back aboard and performed CPR, but he could not be revived. Dive Magazine reported no evidence of diver error or equipment failure.
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Mazraani, an experienced diver, had spent the past 15 years on shipwreck explorations. Tributes poured in from across New Jersey — including the Sayreville Historical Society, the Long Island Divers Association, and state Sen. Vin Gopal — remembering him as a fearless advocate and passionate explorer.
The New Jersey Office of the Public Defender called Mazraani a “cherished member of the legal and diving communities” and said he was “larger than life: fearless, kind, and deeply committed to justice.”
His partner and co-owner of AWS, public defender Jennifer Sellitti, was aboard the Tenacious during the dive. In a Facebook post, she wrote that the couple’s salvage trips were their way of life:
“Joe understood better than anyone that life offers no guarantees. He lived every moment fully, without compromise. He did not want to die doing what he loved — none of us do. He wanted to survive it, to grow old doing it. But when you live at the edge, sometimes the edge pushes back.”
Sellitti said the company’s website, which documents its many salvage operations, will remain online to carry on Mazraani’s “extraordinary life and legacy.”
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