An Italian judge has accepted plea bargain agreements for four Costa Concordia crew members and a manager from owners Costa Crociere, in the first legal punishments for last year's shipwreck.
Deputy commander Ciro Ambrosio, third officer Silvia Coronica, helmsman Jacob Rusli Bin, cabin service manager Manrico Giampiedroni and Costa Crociere crisis co-ordinator Roberto Ferrarini were indicted for manslaughter and causing serious injuries.
Ferrarini, who had been accused of delaying rescue operations in a bid to minimise damage to the company's reputation, was handed a 34-month jail term, the longest sentence.
Giampiedroni was given a 30-month term.
Ambrosio, Coronica and Indonesia-born Rusli Bin - who allegedly failed to understand orders from captain Francesco Schettino - had also been indicted for causing a shipwreck.
They were handed jail terms of 23, 18 and 20 months respectively.
In a plea bargain, defendants admit their guilt in return for lowered punishments whose length is usually agreed on by the prosecution and defence, and approved by a judge. They thus avoid facing trial.
Saturday's decision left Schettino as the sole defendant in court proceedings that started this week in Grosseto, central Italy.
He faces multiple charges including manslaughter, shipwreck and abandoning his vessel.
Prosecutors say he could face up to 20 years in jail.
Schettino's lawyers argue that the captain - who was portrayed as a coward by international media after it emerged that he had abandoned the ship before all the passengers had been evacuated - is being made a scapegoat.
They claim that other people's blunders and security shortcomings on the Concordia are being overlooked.
This week, the lawyers renewed calls for Schettino to also be granted a plea bargain, suggesting a jail term of three years and five months, but prosecutors opposed the bid.
The Concordia hit a reef and ran aground off the island of Giglio on January 13, 2012, after it was steered dangerously close to the coast, killing 32 of its 4229 passengers.
