Man gropes plane passengers
May 30, 2007
Adapted from the Philadelphia Inquirer
A computer engineer who groped female passengers during a London-to-Philadelphia flight a couple months ago and later caused a commotion in a courtroom was sentenced to 69 days in prison, or time served.
The man is expected to be deported. He had pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew and faced a sentence of as long as six months.
He was arrested at the airport after passengers and crew complained that he had rubbed the legs and genital areas of female passengers and thrown water in the face of a flight attendant who told him to stop. Passengers told authorities that after crew members strapped him to his seat, he continued to shout obscenities until the plane landed.
During his first appearance before a federal magistrate, he was wrestled to the courtroom floor by marshals after he began to move toward a female clerk and shouted, "I am a man! I am a man!"
Government doctors initially found him incompetent to stand trial. About a week later, they conducted further tests and determined that he had regained competency.
In a court filing, his lawyers said that the conduct on the plane and in court was "an aberration."
He had never before suffered from mental illness, the lawyers said.
"[He] attended top universities...and received a bachelor and master of engineering and a postgraduate diploma in management," the lawyers said in the filing.
An assistant U.S. Attorney said the government was satisfied with the outcome.
|
