Air Passenger Gropes Flight Attendant, Is Going to Prison

Canadian national gets 6-month sentence for American Airlines assault
By Stephanie Mojica,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 28, 2022 2:22 PM CST
Man Going to Prison After Groping Flight Attendant
A Canadian man will spend six months in a US federal prison for groping an American Airlines flight attendant in August 2021, NBC News reports.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Another ugly incident in the skies: A 50-year-old Canadian man has been sentenced to six months in a US prison after he groped a flight attendant, reports NBC News. Enio Socorro Zayas was sentenced this week in a Florida federal court after his assault on an American Airlines employee on a flight from Cancun to Miami in August 2021, court records say. The flight attendant thought Zayas was asleep and put a package of snacks on his lap. She then "felt a hand grip the bottom of her thigh and move upwards towards the lower portion of her buttocks before rubbing firmly from side to side,” according to an FBI affidavit cited by CNN.

The victim yelled at Zayas and he “mumbled a response that was not intelligible,” per the affidavit. Other passengers approached the shaken flight attendant to offer support and their willingness to cooperate with law enforcement. In October, Zayas pleaded guilty to simple assault within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States—a misdemeanor offense, according to court records. He was released on bond and has until March 28 to report to federal prison. Zayas and his attorney have never given an explanation of his behavior. (Unruly behavior by plane passengers has been on the rise.)

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