Tearful Costa Concordia captain pleads for mercy, gets 16 years

An Italian court convicted the former captain of the Costa Concordia cruise liner on Wednesday for his role in the 2012 shipwreck that killed 32 people and sentenced him to 16 years in prison. Francesco Schettino was charged with manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship in one of the highest-profile shipping disasters in recent years. However it is far from certain whether he will actually go to jail before the end of Italy’s long appeals process, which can take years.

I have spent the last three years in a media meat grinder.

Francesco Schettino

Claiming to be the victim of a plot to make him the scapegoat for a shipwreck that claimed 32 lives, the 54-year-old captain tearfully urged the three judges to acquit him. Prosecutors had insisted Schettino was a “reckless idiot” and asked the judges to convict him and sentence him to 26 years and three months in prison. Addressing the court just before the judges retired to consider their verdict, Schettino detailed the hounding and character assassination he says he has been subjected to and attacked prosecutors who had highlighted his lack of public remorse for the victims. Four Concordia crew members and the boat’s land-based crisis coordinator were allowed to plea bargain. None is serving prison time.

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