Drunk JetBlue Passenger Gets 10Months Prison

[Parche]

JetBlue passenger, drunk and disruptive, gets ticket to prison
Angry tirade ledto charges in June
By Dan Herbeck NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 02/28/08 7:23 AM


A man from Alvin, Texas, will spend 10 months in federal prison as punishment for making death threats during a drunken tirade aboard a JetBlue flight that was forced to land in Buffalo last June.

Jose Roman Jr., 27, was arrested by the FBI on June 28 after his Houston-to-New York flight was diverted to Buffalo because of his conduct on the plane.

In addition to the 10-month sentence, Roman will pay $2,867 in restitution to the airline and will be on supervised release by federal probation officers for one year after his prison term.

Roman, a passenger on the commercial flight, had become enraged because crew members stopped serving him alcoholic drinks. He threatened to shoot and kill flight crew members after the plane landed in New York, according to federal prosecutors.

“I hope this case sends a message that this kind of conduct is taken very seriously by the airlines and by the government,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy.

Roman, a furniture refinisher, was sentenced in Buffalo on Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy. Roman pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of interfering with flight crew members. The maximum sentence would have been one year in prison.

“He recognizes that he has an alcohol problem, and he’s working on it,” said Roman’s attorney, Kimberly Schechter of the federal public defenders office.

Authorities said Roman’s situation was aggravated by the fact that he failed to show up for a scheduled sentencing date in December. Federal marshals arrested him in California several days later.

Crew members stopped serving alcohol to Roman because he was clearly intoxicated, but he kept demanding drinks, angrily confronted a crew member in the aisle, and then refused to return to his seat, authorities said.

[Fleshdancer]

1. what is it about alcohol that makes some people go into a fit of rage?

Threatening to kill people for not serving you more alcohol? I don't understand that.

[JustABozoOnThisBus]

2. Is it just the alcohol?

I'd bet the guy's a complete jerk, even when sober. He probably needs serious help. But that costs money (in this country).

[Lance_Boyle]

3. For gawd's sake - going to Buffalo wasn't punishment enough? n/t

[trof]

4. Booze and drugs were bane of my existence.

Not many things worse than a shitfaced belligerent passenger.
And the druggies.

One young woman was trying to get out of the airplane at 35,000'.
"THERE'S A BOMB ON THE AIRPLANE. I'VE GOT TO GET OUT!"
By the time I got back there two passengers were sitting on her.
We handcuffed (they're in the first aid kit) her hands behind her back and strapped her into a middle seat with no one beside her.
She was effectively straitjacketed until we landed and a couple of New York's finest took her away.
Her purse contained several prescription bottles and some pills not in bottles.

Another time the F/A couldn't get a guy to come out of the aft lav.
You can unlock the door from the outside.
I eased it open and saw him sitting on the john, fully clothed. He looked to be unconscious. There was a needle sticking out of his arm and a piece of surgical tubing wrapped around his forearm.

I felt for a pulse in his neck. None. Goners. I got on the PA to see if there was a doctor on board. There was an EMT. He confirmed my 'diagnosis'. I just closed and relocked the door and had the F/A post a 'closed' sign. Airport medics dealt with it when we landed. He was supposedly on his way to a rehab clinic and decided to shoot up just one more time.

Flying cargo was like a vacation after stuff like that.

[BOSSHOG]

5. Are you opening bars onboard Passengers Jets??

[SteppingRazor]

6. I realize that he threatened flight personnel, but...

10 months in prison? That seems a little harsh.