PORTLAND, Ore. -- A Texas man has pleaded guilty to a felony charge of interference with a flight crew on a plane traveling from Kansas City to Portland.
A conviction of interfering with a flight crew is punishable by a maximum prison term of 20 years, a maximum fine of $250,000, two to three years of supervised release, and a mandatory $100 statutory fee assessment, according to the FBI.
Federal prosecutors said 34-year-old Jesse Todd Thompson of Lubbock, Texas, was a passenger on a Southwest Airlines flight last September when a flight attendant refused to serve him more alcohol because he appeared intoxicated.
Prosecutors said the flight attendant moved several male passengers to seats around Thompson when he became enraged and she feared he would assault her. Thompson locked himself in a bathroom and was arrested after the plane landed.
Thompson has previous convictions for driving under the influence of intoxicants in Indiana and Wyoming, battery in Wyoming, and bail jumping in Texas.
Sentencing was set for May 24.
