The Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal y Correccional N°14 will release this Thursday the grounds for the three-year suspended prison sentence against Felipe Pettinato for the culpable fire leading to the death of his neurologist, Melchor Rodrigo, in 2022. The sentence unifies a prior penalty for simple sexual abuse. Pettinato must meet strict conditions for three years.
On April 20, judges Enrique Gamboa, Gabriel Vega, and Gustavo Valle of the Tribunal Oral en lo Criminal y Correccional N°14 sentenced Felipe Pettinato to three years of suspended prison for “incendio culposo seguido de muerte,” or culpable fire resulting in death. This penalty unifies a previous nine-month sentence handed down in 2024 for simple sexual abuse.
The incident took place on May 16, 2022, in Pettinato's apartment on the 22nd floor “F” of the building at Aguilar 2300, in the Belgrano neighborhood of Buenos Aires. After 11 p.m., a fire broke out in the apartment where Rodrigo, Pettinato's patient and friend, was present. Pettinato went into the hallway to ask for help, a neighbor tried to assist, but firefighters found the doctor's body in the living room with severe burns on his lower legs.
The autopsy determined Rodrigo died from critical burns covering 90% of his body surface, along with pulmonary congestion, edema, and hemorrhage. Pettinato refused to testify during the trial.
Under the suspended sentence, Pettinato must establish a fixed domicile for three years, submit to oversight by the Dirección de Control y Asistencia de Ejecución Penal, and continue his drug detoxification treatment. Once the sentence is final, his genetic profile will be extracted for the Registro Nacional de Datos Genéticos related to sexual integrity offenses.
