Schettino guilty, gets 16 years for Concordia deaths-update2

(ANSA) - Grosseto, February 11 - Former skipper Francesco Schettino was found guilty by a Grosseto court on Wednesday of various charges related to the January 2012 Costa Concordia disaster off the Tuscan island of Giglio and sentenced to 16 years and one month in prison. Prosecutors had requested Schettino be sent to jail for over 26 years.
    The court also banned Schettino from commanding a ship for five years and banned him from holding public office indefinitely. Schettino and his former employers Costa Criuses were also ordered to pay massive damages to a long list of civil plaintiffs, including Concordia passengers, central government, the civil protection department, the Tuscan regional government and the municipality of the Giglio.
    The former commander was dubbed captain coward in the media for abandoning the ship before all his passengers were evacuated.