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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Two apparently intoxicated college students whose in-flight behavior led to an unscheduled stop at the Salt Lake City airport last year will only serve probation.
Andrew Maxwell, of Madisonville, La., and Jacques Labourer, of New Orleans, were accused of interfering with flight crew members during a May 27 American Airlines flight from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Dallas.
Maxwell and Labourer each pleaded guilty in February to one misdemeanor count of theft on an aircraft. In exchange, prosecutors on Monday dismissed felony charges of interference with a flight crew and aiding and abetting.
Both men apologized Monday for their actions. Then, U.S. District Judge Tena Campbell sentenced each to a year's probation and fined both $500.
The two were drinking from two bottles of Crown Royal whiskey they had brought on board with them. When a flight attendant told them she needed to confiscate the bottles but would give them back at the end of the flight, the men became "verbally abusive," according to court documents.
Flight attendants to no avail tried to calm the men by giving them sodas and free in-flight movie headsets. Irritated nearby passengers asked to be moved away from the men, who were loud and belligerent, court papers say.
Maxwell allegedly went to the plane's rear galley and stole several bottles of liquor. When a flight attendant ordered him back to his seat, he resisted, then complied.
The attendants reported the men's behavior to the pilot, who decided to divert the plane to Salt Lake City, the nearest major airport.
An FBI agent arrested the men when the plane landed.
(Copyright 2004 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
