A bad passenger can ruin the experience on a cruise.
One night went wrong fast after tempers flared.
And a dispute on a cruise ship dance floor ruined a vacation after this bad decision.
Real estate CEO assaults cruise ship passenger on the dance floor
The dance floor of a cruise ship was supposed to be a fun way to end the day on the high seas.
But a southern California real estate CEO received federal charges over a fight on the dance floor.
First American Financial CEO Kenneth DeGiorgio was on an adults-only Virgin Voyages cruise that departed from Florida for Puerto Rico and the Caribbean.
The 53-year-old CEO and his wife, Nichol DeGiorgio, were at the On the Rocks Bar of the Resilient Lady cruise ship.
DeGiorgio got into a dispute with a man only identified as M.A. on the bar’s dance floor.
M.A. was dancing with his shoes off when DeGiorgio’s wife asked him to put them on.
“Look, we are all grown-ups here, can you put your shoes on?” Nichol DeGiorgio said, according to the law enforcement report.
M.A. allegedly responded by dancing while waving his middle fingers at her and cursing.
“Shut up, you f***ing b****,” M.A. reportedly yelled.
Kenneth DeGiorgio was recorded on a surveillance video choking the man for allegedly threatening his wife.
DeGiorgio’s legal team said that he was simply defending his wife.
“Mr. DeGiorgio responded to the actions of an individual who harassed his wife, making her feel threatened and intimidated,” a spokesman for DeGiorgio’s legal team said. “Although charged with a simple misdemeanor, Mr. DeGiorgio looks forward to being absolved of any wrongdoing.”
Crime on the high seas gets the feds involved
M.A. alleged that DeGiorgio choked him with “a lot of force” and he thought his “throat was going to be ripped out.”
The surveillance video showed him falling over while he was being choked.
“I’m going to f***ing kill you,” DeGiorgio allegedly told M.A.
DeGiorgio was confined to his RockStar Suite by the ship’s captain until the vessel stopped in Puerto Rico.
FBI agents arrested him when the ship docked.
He is being charged with a federal crime because the alleged assault happened in international waters after the cruise ship had left Kingstown, St. Vincent.
Nichol DeGiorgio told the FBI she should not have told the man to put on his shoes and that he never touched her.
FBI Special Agent William P. Waters said that the real estate CEO was charged under 18 U.S.C. 113(a)(4) Assault within the Maritime and Territorial Jurisdiction of the United States.
DeGiorgio faces up to a year in jail under the misdemeanor charge.
FBI San Juan field office acting special agent in charge Devin J. Kowalski said that crimes committed on cruise ships are taken very seriously.
“Violent crimes committed aboard cruise ships fall under federal jurisdiction, and we take them very seriously,” Kowalski said in a statement. “If you break the law at sea, expect to face consequences on land.”
Going after another passenger on the cruise ship could prove to be very costly for Kenneth DeGiorgio.
DeSantis Daily will keep you up-to-date on any new developments in this ongoing story.
