Denver, May 22: A Pakistani-born man who disrupted a cross-country flight that led to the plane being diverted to Colorado has been sentenced to three months in prison.
A federal judge in Denver yesterday also ordered Muhammad Abu Tahir, 47, of Virginia, to pay USD 14,584 in restitution to AirTran Airways and be on supervised release for three years.
Tahir, originally from Pakistan and now a US citizen, pleaded guilty in March to interfering with a flight crew.
He faced up to 20 years in prison and a USD 250,000 fine if he had been convicted at trial.
Tahir was arrested January 8 after the plane flying from Atlanta to San Francisco was diverted to Colorado Springs.
He drank five mini-bottles of wine, locked himself in a lavatory to shave and then became unruly when he was asked to return to his seat, authorities said.
–PTI