For interfering with crew members on a Dallas-to-Los Angeles flight that had to be diverted to Phoenix last year, authorities said a New York lady was given a four-month prison term.
Kelly Pichardo along with another female passenger were charged with disorderly conduct for verbally and physically assaulting other passengers and crew members of the flight that was forced to land in Phoenix to expel the women.
When the plane landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport on February 24, 2021, both Kelly Pichardo and another first-class passenger named Leeza S. Rodriguez, according to the report, had to be evacuated from the vehicle because of their frightening behavior on board.
According to officials, the ladies assaulted a passenger on the trip and hurled racist epithets at someone who requested them to stop.
Additionally, when the man tried to record the event on camera, Pichardo reportedly spat on him.
The two ladies were charged with disorderly conduct for verbally and physically abusing other passengers and flight staff members after the FBI and Phoenix police conducted an investigation into the matter.
According to federal authorities, Pichardo, a 32-year-old resident of the Bronx, was sentenced to pay roughly $9,200 in restitution to American Airlines as a consequence of the incident.
They said that after serving her jail term, the lady would be have to undergo three years of supervision.
According to US Attorney Gary Restaino, “there is a boundary between impolite behavior on an aircraft and criminal action, and the defendant obviously passed it.”
First class passengers are not exempt from prosecution since the defendant’s verbal and physical abuse of others interfered with both passengers and crew members’ travel.
The incident’s second involved lady entered a guilty plea and will be sentenced in November.