The dude who drunkenly flipped out on a Frontier Airlines flight last summer and assaulted three flight attendants before getting duct-taped to his own seat has been sentenced to 60 days jail, according to the New York Times.
Maxwell Berry, 23, of Ohio, was sentenced to 60 days behind bars and a year of supervised release on Tuesday. He was also fined $US2,500 ($3,471) and ordered to pay over $US1,500 ($2,082) in restitution, the Times reports. Berry had pleaded guilty to three counts of assault in U.S. District Court in Miami in February.
Berry inadvertently became a social media star last summer after a viral video emerged showing him incoherently shouting at other Frontier passengers and crew members during a rowdy July flight from Philadelphia to Miami.
The flight began to go off the rails after Berry ordered a number of alcoholic beverages, according to a police report related to the case. After consuming two drinks, Berry emerged from a plane bathroom shirtless, wandered around the plane for 15 minutes, groped two female flight attendants, and punched a male flight attendant in the face, according to the police report. He also shouted a lot.
Parts of the hectic scene were captured on video by another passenger. “You guys fucking suck!” Berry can be heard screaming at one point during the video. At another point, Berry brags that his parents are worth “two million goddamned dollars!” In still another unfortunate moment, he simply screams “Shut the fuck up!”
After being physically subdued and duct-taped to his seat, Berry continued to scream, after which tape was placed over his mouth.
Frontier passenger allegedly touched 2 flight attendants breasts, then screamed his parents are worth $2 million, before punching a flight attendant. Frontier suspended the crew for duct taping the passenger to his seat as they landed in Miami. 22 yr old Max Berry is in custody. pic.twitter.com/4xS9Rwvafx
— Sam Sweeney (@SweeneyABC) August 3, 2021
After the plane landed in Miami, Berry was arrested and charged with three counts of battery. The flight attendants involved in the episode were initially suspended by Frontier Airlines for failing to follow “proper policies” during the incident. However, after criticism from social media users and the Association of Flight Attendants — the trade union that represents flight attendants — Frontier subsequently backed down and announced it would not be punishing the flight crew.
We reached out to Berry’s attorney, Jason Kreiss, for comment, and will update this story if he responds. In court documents, Kreiss previously described Berry as “a good man who committed a bad act, that was not planned,” and Berry has since apologised for his behaviour, the New York Daily News reports.
Berry’s case was far from the only instance last year in which an airline passenger became so unruly that flight attendants resorted to taping them to their seats. Let’s hope this is a trend that died with 2021.