PHOENIX — A New York woman has been sentenced to four months in prison after an altercation last year on a plane.
According to The Associated Press, a flight from Dallas to Los Angeles on February 24, 2021 had to be diverted to Phoenix following an altercation on the plane.
Federal prosecutors said, according to the AP, that Kelly Pichardo, 32, and another passenger were “engaged in intimidating behavior” on the flight. Both women were removed from the plane once it landed at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport.
Officials said Pichardo and the other woman had assaulted another passenger. When the man asked them to stop, they used racial slurs, said the AP. Pichardo allegedly also spit on him when he attempted to record.
Phoenix Police Department and the FBI both investigated the incident when it happened, according to the AP. Both women were charged for disorderly conduct for verbally and physically assaulting the flight crew and other passengers.
In addition to the four months in prison, Pichardo has been ordered to pay about $9,200 in restitution to American Airlines and will also serve three years of supervised release once she is out of prison, said the AP.
According to the AP, the other woman is expected to be sentenced in November and she has pleaded guilty.