MIAMI (AP) - The Latest on the sentencing of a man whose wife disappeared while honeymooning at sea (all times local):
12:05 p.m.
The family of a woman who disappeared on her honeymoon is “satisfied” with a judge’s decision to sentence the husband to 8 years in prison for involuntary manslaughter.
A federal judge sentenced 42-year-old Lewis Bennett to eight years in federal prison.
An attorney speaking on behalf of Isabella Hellman’s relatives says they’re looking forward to visiting the couple’s daughter in Scotland next month.
Mitchell Kitroser said on Tuesday the family is hoping this is the first of many visits to come. Kitroser said Hellman’s relatives have forgiven Bennett.
Emelia Bennett was an infant when her mother vanished in May 2017.
Bennett is a dual citizen of Australia and the United Kingdom. His daughter now lives with his family in Scotland and will turn 3 in July.
10:20 a.m.
A man whose wife disappeared while they honeymooned at sea has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
Lewis Bennett apologized to the family of Isabella Hellman during a Tuesday hearing before U.S. District Judge Federico Moreno in Miami.
Bennett’s attorneys sought a 7-year sentence but the judge went with the maximum number of years spelled out in a plea agreement on an involuntary manslaughter charge reached last November.
Hellman disappeared as the couple sailed off the Bahamas in May 2017. Her 42-year-old husband insisted he left Hellman on deck when he went to the boat’s cabin to sleep. He said he woke up when the craft hit something, and Hellman was missing.
The FBI says the catamaran’s portholes were opened and the hull damaged from the inside.
The couple’s daughter turns 3 in July. She’s being raised by his parents in Scotland.
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7:55 a.m.
A man whose wife disappeared while they honeymooned at sea is facing a prison sentence after pleading guilty in Florida to a federal involuntary manslaughter charge.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled Tuesday in Miami federal court for 42-year-old Lewis Bennett. The plea agreement caps his potential prison sentence at 8 years.
Isabella Hellman went missing as the couple sailed off the Bahamas in May 2017.
Bennett insisted he left Hellman on deck when he went to the boat’s cabin to go to sleep. He said he woke up when the craft hit something, and Hellmann was gone.
The FBI says the catamaran’s portholes were opened and the hull damaged from the inside.
The couple’s daughter turns 3 in July. She’s being raised by his parents in Scotland.
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An earlier version of this report had an incorrect age for Lewis Bennett.
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