By
Feb 09, 2021 04:44 AM EST
Almost two years after the incident on a Royal Caribbean cruise ship, the grandfather who was with his 18-month-old granddaughter when she fell to her death from an open window was sentenced Monday to three years of probation based on the Department of Justice of Puerto Rico.
The grandfather sentenced with probation was a resident of Valparaiso, Indiana, Salvatore Sam Anello, has pleaded guilty on the charge of negligent homicide in 2019 after he allegedly let his 18-month-old granddaughter Chloe Wiegand, fell through an 11-story window from the ship docked in San Juan, the Capital city of Puerto Rico in July of 2019.
Anello has maintained he placed little Chloe there to knock on the glass as she enjoyed doing at her brother s hockey games, and that he had no idea the window was open. Alan and Kimberly Wiegand, Chloe s parents, have launched a legal claim for negligence against Royal Caribbean arguing that an open window should not have been so close to a children s play area. On February 3, a judge ruled that the cruise line can be sued by the family for unlimited damages. Royal Caribbean has demonstrably lied to this court and, in so doing, Royal Caribbean has created a false narrative to accompany Royal Caribbean s carefully selected CCTV video upon which Royal Caribbean bases its motion to dismiss, a filing by the family read.
Salvatore Anello, right, of Valparaiso, Indiana, pleaded guilty in the case in October. Anello was aboard the ship in July 2019 when he dropped 18-month-old Chloe Wiegand, left, to her death.
Grandfather of toddler who fell out of cruise ship window sentenced to 3 years probation
Read full article
February 8, 2021, 11:48 AM·2 min read
Salvatore “Sam” Anello, of Valparaiso, Indiana, pleaded guilty to negligent homicide last year after his granddaughter, Chloe Wiegand, fell through an 11-story window from the ship docked in San Juan, Puerto Rico, in July 2019.
Image: Chloe Wiegand. (Courtesy Wiegand Family)
Anello had initially pleaded not guilty, but last February said that he was going to plead guilty so his family could begin to move on from the tragedy. The plea deal allowed Anello to avoid jail time and serve the probation in his home state, Michael Winkleman, an attorney for the Wiegand family, has said.
The Indiana man who dropped his young granddaughter from an open window of a cruise ship was sentenced Monday to three years’ probation for his role in her tragic death, according to justice officials in Puerto Rico.