February 16, 2011
By Staff Reporter
By Patrick Markey
A young Irishman held in a Chicago prison after being arrested during a fracas on an international flight from Dublin was released and flown back to Ireland Monday accompanied by the Irish police, officials said this week.
FBI agents arrested 19-year-old James Connors three weeks ago after he allegedly assaulted a flight attendant and interfered with flight duties on an Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport.
Prosecutors had charged Connors with federal offenses that could have jailed him for a maximum of 20 years. But after he pleaded guilty to assaulting a flight crew, Connors was sentenced to time already served at the federal Metropolitan Correction Center since his arrest on March 26, said Randy Samborn, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Chicago office.
After Friday’s hearing, Connors was taken into custody by INS officials because he entered the U.S. on an altered passport, a Chicago INS spokeswoman said. Facing an INS hearing, Connors voluntarily withdrew his application for entry and fly to Ireland on another Aer Lingus flight Monday night, the spokeswoman said.
An Aer Lingus representative said the airline takes whatever precautions necessary to secure the safety of all passengers. Connors was accompanied by two Irish police officers and the head of Aer Lingus security on his return flight, the spokesman said.
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According to a criminal complaint filed at the U.S. District Court in Illinois, about two and a half hours into the flight from Ireland three weeks ago, Connors allegedly became agitated after he was told he would have to wait for his drink to be served.
Connors calmed down after talking to a cabin manager, but quickly became agitated again and threatened to headbutt crew members, the complaint states. After Connors threatened to open the aircraft doors, flight attendants and passengers restrained the Irishman and placed him in handcuffs in a rear seat. FBI agents arrested him without incident when the plane landed.