A judge yesterday threw the book at the captain of the doomed Staten Island ferry, sentencing him to 18 months behind bars after he took full responsibility for the 2003 crash.
“I offer my deepest condolences to the families whose loved ones died on the [Andrew J.] Barberi,” said former Capt. Richard Smith, 57. “I also offer to all those who were hurt on that day and their families my heartfelt apology.”
“I will regret for the rest of my life that I did not just call in sick,” Smith said during an emotionally gut-wrenching, two-hour court proceeding in which the director of ferry operations, Patrick Ryan, was sentenced to serve a year and a day in prison.
Smith, addicted to painkillers and suffering from exhaustion, passed out at the wheel as the ferry pulled in to the St. George Terminal. The boat slammed into a maintenance pier, killing 11 people and injuring scores more.
Dozens of family members of the people killed sat teary-eyed throughout the poignant speech, as they had through the many sorrowful speeches given by widows and by children left fatherless by the accident.
“It was the worst day of my life,” said Kristin Bagarozzo, 12, about learning her father, Joseph, was killed. “It broke my heart.”
“He may not have been rich, but he was rich with his love for family and friends,” Bagarozzo said as she stood in front of the judge’s bench with her mother, Jessica, standing by her side.
“It’s very hard to say goodbye to somebody you love so much, especially your own dad.”
The ferry captain closed his eyes and let loose a pained sigh as he listened to Kathy Healy, who lost her husband, John, that day, describe how the death of her husband has left her to take on dual roles as mother and father to her four children.
“Although I never thought such a tragedy would occur, my responsibility to my passengers should have told me to go home,” said Smith, explaining how tired he was at the helm of the Barberi on Oct. 15, 2003.
“After the crash, when I saw what happened, I felt that I could not live with myself,” he said before giving a chilling account of his suicide attempt.
Smith, who pleaded guilty in 2004 to seamen’s manslaughter and to lying to investigators, first tried to slash his wrist while still onboard the boat.
When that failed, he scurried home, grabbed a pellet gun and said goodbye to his family.
“I then locked myself in the bathroom and shot myself twice in the heart. I tried to end my life, but failed.”
Brooklyn federal Judge Edward Korman lauded Smith’s bold admission saying, “What you’ve just heard in this statement was not an act. He is a broken person as a result of this event and beyond whatever sentence I impose, he will suffer for whatever he did for the rest of his life.”
Korman apparently paid no mind to an analysis by the head of the Probation Department, who recommended that Smith and Ryan be sentenced to three and six months, respectively.
Ryan originally declined to make a statement, claiming the moving family statements left him with nothing to say, but later described how he knows what it’s like to loose a family member in an accident.
“I was one of the first ones on the boat after the collision,” Ryan said. “Those visions, nightmares, are going to haunt me forever.”
Neither one would comment outside of court.
Earlier in the day, Korman delayed ruling on whether the city can limit the amount of money victims and victims’ families can try to claim in the pending civil trials.
The city is hoping the letter of an 1851 maritime law that states a ship owner is only responsible for the value of the boat will help limit payouts to the $14.2 million the boat was worth.
Ferry justice / Editorial: Page 26