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Salvatore Anello, the man who pleaded guilty last year in connection with the fatal fall of his one-year-old granddaughter from a cruise ship, has been sentenced to three years’ probation, Puerto Rican authorities announced Monday. Ring was accused of negligent homicide to the death of Chloe Wiegand, who fell more than 30 meters from a window of a Royal Caribbean cruise ship in July 2019.
Wiegand fell from the moored ship after Anello held her up against what he said he believed to be a set of closed windows and she slipped out of his hands. Surveillance video obtained by CBS News showed the moments before the fatal fall, in which Wiegand ran to windows with Anello behind her. Anello could then be seen picking it up and holding it over the railing.
Anello has repeatedly said that he only supported her because he believed there was glass and that he never would have otherwise.
“By the time the accident happened, it was as if that protective glass wall was gone,” he previously told CBS News. “I was completely in disbelief… I didn’t drink and I didn’t throw her out the window. I just wanted to knock on the glass with her like we have done together so many times before … tasked with keeping my beautiful granddaughter safe and I failed. “
Wiegand’s family did not file a complaint. But he was charged with negligent homicide by prosecutors in Puerto Rico, where the ship was moored at the time of Wiegand’s death.
Anello initially pleaded not guilty to the charges. But after months of legal battles, he agreed to plead guilty in October 2020.
“This decision was incredibly difficult for Sam and the family, but since the plea deal includes no jail time and no acknowledgment of the facts, it was decided that the plea deal is in the best interests of the family. so they can bring this horrific closure to a close and focus on grieving Chloe and the fight for the safety of cruise passengers, ”the family’s lawyer said at the time.
Wiegand’s family have filed a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean, alleging the company failed to “provide reasonably safe children’s entertainment areas, including reasonably safe windows.” An attorney for the family previously told CBS News the ship was not following safety rules and should have been fitted with fall protection window guards, screens and something that would have prevented the window from opening from more than four inches. The company denies the allegations.
David Begnaud contributed reporting.
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