A woman visits the a makeshift tribute made with flags and notes to the 44 crew members of the missing submarine ARA San Juan at the Argentina Navy base at Mar del Plata in November 2017. File Photo by Mauricio Arduin/EPA
July 9 (UPI) -- An Argentine court convicted former Navy Capt. Claudio Villamide and sentenced him to three years of suspended prison time for his role in the 2017 sinking of the submarine ARA San Juan, the country's deadliest peacetime naval disaster.
The sinking killed all 44 crew members. The submarine was located in late 2018 at a depth of roughly 3,000 feet in the South Atlantic. It has not been recovered.
According to Argentine media reports, the court in Río Gallegos found Villamide guilty Wednesday of aggravated negligence and failing to fulfill the duties of a public official. In addition to the suspended sentence, he was barred from holding public office for six years.
Prosecutors argued that Villamide, who commanded the Argentine Navy's Submarine Force at the time of the disaster, authorized the patrol mission despite knowing the vessel had serious maintenance deficiencies. The submarine had pending post-repair tests and was subject to a technical diving restriction that was ignored, prosecutors said.
