JAKARTA - A female passenger was recently sentenced to four months in prison for disturbing flight crew members, according to a report released by the Department of Justice.
Kelly Pichardo, a New York City woman, United States previously pleaded guilty to the charge, which constitutes a Class C crime offense.
Pichardo also received 36 months of scrutiny and was ordered to pay $9123 in damages or around Rp136,837,701 to American Airlines, the department said in its release.
The sentence was imposed on August 29, according to court documents.
"The behavior is non-regulated and intimidating," Pichardo and his co-defendants said on flights to American Airlines February 2021 from Dallas to Los Angeles.
As a result of his actions, the flight was diverted to Phoenix, and then both of them were removed from the plane. They travel in first grade. Ana Laura Botello, a lawyer for Pichardo, declined to comment on the sentence.
Meanwhile his colleague, Leeza S. Rodriguez, is scheduled to be sentenced in November "according to his plea of guilt," the department said.
The indictment says Pichardo and Rodriguez were involved in an attack by an airline crew while the plane was on the flight.
"There is a line between disrespectful behavior on planes and criminal activity, and the defendant clearly crossed it," US Attorney Gary Restaino said in a news release.
"The first class passenger is not immune from prosecution," he said.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), with the help of the Phoenix Police Department, conducted an investigation into the incident involving Pichardo.
Separately, the Professional flight union, a union representing more than 20,000 American Airlines flight attendants, said violent behavior featured on flights diverted to Phoenix had to be stopped.
"APFA will continue to collaborate with flight attendants and other customer service agency unions, the Department of Transportation, the Federal Aviation Administration, and Congress to ensure these violators are prosecuted by appropriate fines and criminal penalties,"ditly. Hedrick, the union's national president, said in a statement made to CNN.
The maximum fine for a Class C crime offense in this case is 250,000 US dollars, with a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
The number of rogue passenger behavior in the United States recorded a record last year, of which nearly 6,000 reports were made to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
Meanwhile, more than 1,100 investigations and 350 law enforcement actions were carried out.
In late 2021, the Justice Department pledged to prioritize prosecution of crimes on commercial aircraft.
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