Prosecutors said two women from New York are facing charges for allegedly assaulting the crew of the plane and assaulting other passengers on a flight from Texas to California earlier this year.
The Arizona District Attorney’s Office said in a statement that Kelly Pichardo, a 31-year-old resident of the Bronx, appeared in federal court on Wednesday on charges of interfering with the crew and carrying out simple attacks. statement Released on the same day as the hearing.
Leeza Rodriguez, 30, also from the Bronx, is scheduled to appear in court next week on the same charge.
According to the lawyer’s office, on February 24, Picardo and Rodriguez were both on an American Airlines flight from Dallas to Los Angeles. They allegedly attacked a crew member and interfered with their ability to perform their duties. .
According to the indictment, the women allegedly attacked a passenger separately during the flight.
The statement stated that Picardo and Rodriguez’s alleged actions prompted the crew to make an unplanned landing in Phoenix, Arizona.
The prosecutor said in a statement: “In the jurisdiction of special aircraft in the United States, it is a violation of federal law to interfere with the performance of flight crew members or to impair their ability to perform their duties through attacks or intimidation.”
The conviction for interfering with the flight crew carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. At the same time, the conviction for a simple assault is punishable by up to 6 months in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.
Picardo and Rodriguez had previously been indicted by a grand jury on three counts related to the February incident.
The FBI and the Phoenix Police Department assisted in investigating the case.
Earlier this month, another airplane passenger was Duct tape She was taken to her seat on suspicion of assaulting a flight attendant and trying to open the door of the plane during the flight.
The woman, who did not want to be named, was included on American Airlines’ “internal” no-fly list, pending investigation into the incident, which occurred when the airline moved from Dallas-Warburg, Texas on July 6th. Spearberg was on flight 1774 to Charlotte, North Carolina.
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