Woman Out Of Prison Six Weeks After Sentencing In Fiancé's Death
BEDFORD HILLS, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A woman convicted of tampering with a kayak, which eventually lead to her fiance's drowning is now out of prison.
As CBS2's Marc Liverman reports, she was released six weeks after sentencing.
CBS2's cameras were rolling when 37-year-old Angelika Graswald stood for the first time as a free woman.
She walked to an SUV that was waiting to transfer her off prison grounds and deliver her to the news media, and off to freedom, still in partial prison attire.
She was silent the entire time.
On Thursday, her attorney Richard Portale spoke in front of the Bedford Hills Correction Facility.
"She's grateful to be able to breathe the fresh air, to walk in the fresh air," he said.
Graswald admitted that she should have perceived the risk of danger in her fiance's death in 2015.
The couple went kayaking on the chilly and choppy Hudson River in April, when 46-year-old Vincent Viafore's kayak started to sink.
Investigators said it happened because Graswald secretly removed a drain plug before they went into the river.
Last month she was sentenced to sixteen months to four years in prison -- the maximum sentence for charges of criminally negligent homicide.
The time she's spent in prison since her arrest has counted as time served.
"Reconnecting is going to be difficult, and reconstructing her life is going to be difficult. Her day to day, her reality is much different today than it was 32 months ago when she went to jail," her lawyer said. "She's excited to be able to do that and at this point we're going to get started."
The then bride-to-be also admitted that she pushed a floating paddle away from her fiance while he struggled.
CBS2's Liverman spoke to Viafore's mother Mary Ann over the phone on Thursday. She said she felt that her son never got any justice.
Graswald is a U.S. permanent resident. She could face deportation to her native Latvia after her parole.
Prosecutors said Graswald committed the crime for her husband's $250,000 life insurance policy.
