A grandfather accused in the fatal fall of his young granddaughter from an 11th-story window of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico last year pleaded guilty Thursday to negligent homicide. Salvatore “Sam” Anello of Valparaiso, Indiana, said earlier this year that he would drop a not-guilty plea to help end what he called “this nightmare” for his family. Eighteen-month-old Chloe Wiegand slipped from his grasp and fell about 150 feet from an open window of Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Freedom of the Seas ship in July 2019.
A grandfather who pleaded guilty to negligent homicide in the fall of his young granddaughter from an 11th-story window of a cruise ship docked in Puerto Rico was sentenced Monday to three years’ probation, according to justice officials.
Salvatore “Sam” Anello, of Valparaiso, Indiana, had pleaded guilty in the case in October 2020. Defense attorney Michael Winkleman has said Anello would serve probation in his home state.
Anello was aboard the Royal Caribbean Cruises’ Freedom of the Seas ship with family in July 2019 when the death occurred. He has said he did not know the window in the children’s play area was open and that he lifted 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand up to it so she could knock on the glass as she had done at her brother’s hockey games.
The girl’s parents sued Royal Caribbean in a civil case that is still ongoing.
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