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The New Jersey father who killed his son by forcing him to run on a speeding treadmill to discipline him was sentenced to 25 years in prison Friday.
Christopher Gregor made Corey Micciolo, 6, use the machine on March 20, 2021, even after the child repeatedly fell off, and the boy passed away on April 2.
Gregor, 32, told the court at sentencing that he didn’t know his son had suffered a serious medical issue after the exertion, and insisted that the treadmill punishment did not lead to his death.
“I want to assure you that on April 2, I did nothing to cause Corey’s passing,” Gregor said in a statement in court, according to Law and Crime. “I didn’t hurt my son. I loved him and I still do. I regret not bringing him to the hospital sooner. I didn’t know how sick he was. I didn’t know. I just thought he was tired.”
Prosecutors said Gregor increased the speed on the treadmill while the boy was on it, causing him to fall down several times.
Roughly two weeks later, Micciolo became nauseous and began slurring his words and walking unsteadily.
Surveillance video shows the father carrying Micciolo’s limp body out to his car on April 2 to take him to a local hospital in Hackensack, according to the New York Post.
He suffered a seizure during a CT scan, and was soon pronounced dead.
PHOTOS OF CHRISTOPHER GREGOR FORCING SON ON A TREADMILL:
A nurse on duty at Southern Ocean Medical Center at the time said Micciolo could not speak when he was brought into the facility, the newspaper reported.
An autopsy showed that he died from blunt force injuries to his chest and stomach.
Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said Gregor will be subject to the “No Early Release Act,” which mandates that he will have to serve out at least 85% of his sentence before being eligible for parole.
Gregor was found guilty of manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child in May, avoiding a murder conviction that could have landed him a life term.
The dead boy’s mother, Breanna Micciolo, implored Judge Guy Ryan to hit Gregor with the maximum.
“Everything he had done to Corey was done out of spite toward me,” she said, asserting that he had no remorse for his actions. “Another reason I can think of is he is sick in the head and used Corey as his punching bag… He never had an ounce of love for Corey, and to the defendant, Corey was just an inconvenience to his life.”
Gregor’s lawyers had argued that he died from an infection, not injuries sustained during the treadmill run, but jurors rejected the claim.
“Corey was and still is my life, my world and my everything,” his mother said in court. “What this monster did was pathetic, disgusting, and I wish him nothing but the worst.”
