An unruly passenger who assaulted a flight attendant and actually managed to partially open an aircraft door in-flight has been sentenced to only one year in prison and been handed a very small fine. Does this represent a miscarriage of justice or will even a year in prison deter others from drunk and disorderly conduct onboard?
Only One Year In Prison For Assaulting A Flight Attendant And Opening Aircraft Door In-Flight?
30-year-old Kameron C. Stone was sentenced to one year in federal prison on Monday for interfering and assaulting a flight attendant.
The incident occurred on April 16, 2021 on a United Express flight from Washington Dulles (IAD) to Pensacola (PNS):
- Passengers noticed Stone reeked of alcohol and was behaving “obnoxiously”
- That included simulating a gun with his hand and “shooting” other passengers
- Stone also refused to remain seated or keep his seatbelt fastened
- A Flight attendant warned him on several occasions to remain seated
- During final descent, Stone stood up and tried to enter the cockpit
- He then tried to open the aircraft door
- At lower altitudes, the door can be opened, at least partially, and Stone was successful in at least partially opening the door
- That triggered an alarm and forced the pilot to declare an emergency with Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)
- A flight attendant attempted to stop Stone from opening the door and he responded by pushing her away, then grabbing her shoulders and slamming her into a galley wall, injuring her
- Three passengers, including an off-duty Federal Air Marshal, leaped up and helped the flight attendant restrain Stone until the plane landed
Due to a plea deal with prosecutors, Stone now faces one year in prison followed by three years of supervised release and a fine of $7,500. He may face an additional fine by the FAA.
Is it just me, or is that an incredibly light sentence for what he did? He may spend only weeks in prison and the fine is small enough that I would not even call it a slap on the wrist.
There’s another important issue at play. Out of an abundance of caution, should someone who board a plane smelling like alcohol or who acts in any sort of obnoxious way be quickly booted off a flight. Had Stone been denied boarding, he likely would not be sitting in jail today.
CONCLUSION
Attacking a flight attendant and opening an aircraft door in-flight merits harsh punishment and I’m not sure Stone will receive it with his relatively light sentence. While aircraft door normally cannot be opened in-flight, when the aircraft is at a low enough altitude, this is possible. Hopefully Stone will use the time in prison to reflect upon his actions and reform his behavior. I also hope the assaulted flight attendant will file a huge lawsuit against him.
(image: GoJet Airlines // H/T: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)
I disagree. I actually think that this is a very appropriate sentence, if delivered correctly.
Prison is not going to reform this gentleman. He seems capable of reform and should not be left to rot in prison. I would believe that the flight attendant in question would not want him to rot in prison for 10-15 years before being let out. I particularly like the 3 years of supervised release, as this gives the man time to enter substance abuse treatment and abuse intervention. The court could and should mandate this as part of his supervised release for the entire 3 years. If it does, he may never behave this way again. If this sort of sentence is administered
AS A FIRST OFFENSE ONLY
to those who assault others, we can, over time, begin to reform the culture where this behavior is acceptable and keep it from ever happening again, one case at a time.
We have too many people in this world thanks to losers who popped out kids like rabbits.
I say we should have capital punishment and summary execution even for misdemeanors.
Your check bounces, shot on the spot by the bank teller.
Your consistently stupid comments might be hysterical to you, but I would hazard a guess that Matthew would be well served to ban you.
That would go against freedom of speech that Matthew likes.
So why don’t you tell us what have you done to make the world a better place? I bet you popped out a bunch of kids.
Considering the joke that our judicial system has become – particularly in many large cities – I’d say that this was a pretty reasonable sentence. In places like Baltimore, Milwaukee or Chicago, we see violent carjackers walking free on low/no bail and eventually getting suspended sentences. There are murderers who get bail – and repeat their crimes. This is not mere hype, look it up. Check out any big city newspaper (especially one with a Soros lapdog DA) and you’ll see this crap everywhere. At least this guy’s sentence seems to fit the crime. Since it’s federal, he’ll be forced to serve the time too.
Bigger question is if he gets pregnant, since it now appears men can, will he be able to fly to a state with legalized abortions?
Abortion is currently legal in every state in the USA. Even in the swamp state.
And more importantly why do you care? What business is that of you? Weren’t you one of the people ranting about wearing a mask and vaccine mandates? And now you are worried about someone else’s body? Perhaps you should just focus on yourself. Or move to Russia….you seem to have much more in common with Russians than you do with the average American.
Russians seem to be much more sane than your typical american leftist. At least they understand basic biology.
Just so you know when a woman is pregnant she also has another body so it’s not just “her body” something your pro baby killers always leave out.
The sentence is reasonable, however it is missing one vital component. He should have received at lifetime ban from air travel that would be rescinded upon completion of his sentence (without incident) AND successful completion of a substance abuse program.
He did partially open the aircraft door in flight. The danger that posed to the pax and crew was, at the very least, reckless endangerment (probably tossed in the plea deal).
I disagree with the sentence being reasonable. He partially opened the door and also put his hands on a flight attendant and slamming her into the galley wall injuring her in the process. A one year prison sentence and a $7,500 dollar fine is a slap on the wrist. His fine should have at least been $50,000 dollars due to the fact that put his hands on a flight attendant and injured her in the process that is called assault. For partially opening that door he should be charged with reckless endangerments combined with the assault he should serve 5 years in prison and once his prison sentence is over he should be placed on the no-fly-list for at least another 5 years.
As long as prosecutors continue to be soft on criminals this behavior will continue. The FAA announced a zero tolerance policy, but what good is zero tolerance when the punishment doesn’t fit the crime.
The people who are deterred by prison are likely to be equally persuaded by one month, one year or 10 years. When considering the possibility of involuntary sodomy, any length of time offers a sufficient reason to avoid prison. Regardless, we do a horrible job of reforming criminals. Most exit prison with more anger, more rage & stronger physically but no more educated and even less employable than when they went in.
If someone is a legit threat to society no sentence is long enough. If someone can be a productive, healthy member of society then any prison sentence is too long.
That is very black and white.
People need to be punished for their behavior. Take someone who drives wrecklessly and kills someone. Should that person go to prison forever? No. But that person absolutely should be punished for their behavior for a couple reasons. One to detour future conduct and two because it’s proper justice for the victim.
Ultimately, justice is ensuring that the behavior never happens again. Using that logic, we never will truly achieve justice, hence the imperfections in the system. But if we combine four elements: rehabilitation, protection of society, punishment, and the dissuasion of similar conduct, we can, one case at a time, stop the behavior. It will never happen with an individual case. But it happens when justice is consistent and tailored individually.
@Alan In a perfect world maybe, but consistent and tailored are two things that never happen within the current system. Unfortunately no amount of “justice” ever really compensates a victim. And dissuasion is a joke, 77% of people released will be rearrested within 5 years, so clearly very few are dissuaded.
I’d say the bigger question is how to prevent more future victims. Sending people who can be reformed to gladiator academies is a horrible answer. Just like releasing people into society who cannot be reformed (to create more space to “punish” additional people) is a bad idea.
Assume that anyone released from prison may be your new neighbor, since they will certainly be someone’s neighbor. Would you rather it be someone who spent 5 years being “punished” in a rape-y gladiator academy or someone who was treated well and educated in a trade who can earn an honest living?
The latter may not satisfy our sense of justice, but that would still be my choice for who lives next door.
@Ryan I see your point, but not buying the live next door bit. Dollars to donuts there’d be howls of protest if the state opened or wanted to put a halfway house or something similar in anyone’s community, the exception being places criminals already inhabit before commiting their crimes. Those resident usually have no say or money.
Who decided if an individual can be a productive member of society and therefore should avoid jail time? What crimes would qualify for your no jail time? There are people who have committed capitol murder as teenagers and spent 30-40 years in prison who have come out a different person and are now contributing to society in a positive way. Then there are burglars and robbers who continue to repeat offend and never turn their life around? Under your proposal how should the justice system decided who should be sent to jail and who should not because they can be a productive member of society and therefore as you stated any prison sentence is too long?
My question is what to the air Marshall so long to get involved in this? He should have gotten there way before that door got opened.
That’s one year he will never get back, and one year he will have to think about it. Much better than a token fine and community service.
It’s just you.