Griffin O’Neal Fined $200 in Boat Death of Coppola’s Son

ANNAPOLIS, Md. —  Griffin O’Neal, son of actor Ryan O’Neal, was fined $200 and placed on 18 months’ probation today for a boating accident that killed the son of director Francis Ford Coppola.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Judge Martin Wolff set a stringent list of conditions for probation and told O’Neal he would impose a 30-day suspended jail term if he violated any of them. Under the conditions, O’Neal will be required to submit to periodic drug testing, will have to attend school or work and will have to perform more than 400 hours of community service.

Wolff said he had found nothing good about O’Neal in the reports given to him.

“You have a history of lying, with little respect for others,” the judge told the 22-year-old defendant.

O’Neal was convicted by Wolff on Dec. 19 of negligent operation of a boat that he and 23-year-old Gian-Carlo Coppola were on. The judge found him innocent of a more serious charge of boat manslaughter.