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Man who ignited midair brawl on Seattle-to-Beijing flight sentenced to 2 years in prison


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patrick baker 32
A bystander sustained permanent injuries and lost some quality of life, therefore a two year sentence seems inadequate. Five years of sentence is available and on the books, and even that seems light .
matt jensen 9
Should have been 5 years & $250,000 fine
fernando kosop 13
that guy should have gotten 20 years!!!! not just 2!!!!
When will people quite posting "subscription only" articles. So annoying to click on the link and not being able to read.
Errr.. I got straight into the news article without problem. Perhaps by asking nicely?
Bill Harris 1
It's because the Seattle Times, like many websites that originate with print newpapers, has a limited paywall. If you're being blocked by the paywall, you've already accessed your allowed number of article reads for the month. Try clearing your browser's cookies, or reading the article in an anonymous-browsing window, like Incognito mode in Chrome, or InPrivate in IE.
D Edwards 1
Because there are way to many people/companies that want to be paid for doing almost nothing.
TWA55 3
A real model citizen, that's some statement.
Dave Mathes 1
....copy that....
AWAAlum 3
My apologies to anyone who takes offense at this and/or has a roman numeral attached to their name - really, but ...
This guy has a "IV" following his name. Although it's a tad like profiling, I wonder if Mr. Hudek, IV hasn't led a fairly privileged existence, acting and doing whatever moves him in the moment and without consequence. Huge leap, I know. Just sayin', the thought flitted through.
SorenTwin 3
30 grams of edibles?

Yeah, no. That's 1000 times the effective dose.
Effective dose!? This demonstrates the problem with legalizing a drug that typically has an unknown potency, an unknown dose for effectiveness, and an unknown safe dosing schedule. And, in the case of medical marijuana, the patient is asking a physician to give them a “green card” to allow the drug to be used with their permission.
Luke Spencer 7
He had letters of supporters sent to him? Who the heck would support that? smh...
Ron Lai 2
He should have been locked up for 20 TWENTY 20 YEARS IN SOLITARY! What's to stop his repeating his candy lust? He should be judged on this act, not his being a good citizen in the past.
Who the f writes letters of support for such people? Damn. Each of those idiots should get a nice face cut with a broken bottle.
Dan Grelinger 3
Fellow drug heads write letters of support for drug heads.
Sam Johnson 6
That is what we get from bleading heart judges. Keep this up, judge, and we will have this stupidity going on every day. Ban him from flying on any airline for 5 years and award anyone injured $ 100,000 each.
If you wanted to sleep on the plane, why not take an Unisom or ZZZquil or something, instead of weed?
Calvin Dailey 11
I doubt his violent behavior was caused by weed.
Dan Grelinger 1
Translated: "Everybody is a liar".
Henry Zohar 2
There should be a disposal chute for people like this
Jon Herd 2
His defence lawyer should be gaoled, too.

Trying to blame his actions on a drug.

That arsewipe CHOSE to injest mind altering drugs.

2 years gaol. What a joke. Tbe victims need compensation, the airline needs compensation, and this idiot needs a lot more time in clink.
jerrynolan 1
He got off easy. He assaulted and endangered his fellow passengers. Personally I think if they had beaten or strangled him to death during the flight it would have been a satisfactory outcome.
James Baker 1
Five years would be more deserving.
James Baker -3
Actually it just goes to show that if he had a boxcutter,like your suppose to believe what happened on 9/11 that caused the single worst attack on America since December 7th 1941 when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour,that if someone just used a wine bottle,on them,9/11 would never of happened...?
I agree - at least 5 years. If insane, family or doctors shouldn't have not let him fly by himself. Just so tough flying these days. Hope nobody allergic to dogs.
Dan Steech 1
These judges who hand down these sentences should be given two years for being so lenient.
Craig Bell 1
Blaming judges is like blaming umpires. They only mete out sentences prescribed by law, they cant just arbitrarily pick a sentence they like. Blame the jury too.
Stefan Sobol 1
A quick web search will find a number of other articles on this subject that are not behind pay walls.
Stefan, I know how to google. What prevents OP from posting a accessible article form the beginning. - last post since it's not topic related.
Jeffrey Bue 1
I guess this is almost as good as having the guy put on a "no fly" list - for two years :)
I'm hoping he gets a lifetime membership to the "no fly" list.
Robert Earle 1
Rest assured, no exit door can be opened at high altitude. The door is a 'plug-type' & the high cabin pressure keeps it place.

Can & may only be opened at a much slower speed & below 15000 in case of extreme fire / smoke.
Robert Earle 1
... keeps it in place ...
jcsjcs 1
Unless you're in the upper deck of a 747.
D Edwards 1
Certain that this was not caused by marijuana. Should have drug tested him right off the plane to figure out what caused his action. No flying forever for this guy, hope he likes going to Beijing by boat and train.
Dan Grelinger 1
I glad you are certain. That's exactly what the world needs more of. People that are as certain as you are.

By the way, where did that certainty come from?
What do you expect from Wrist-Slap Seattle?
Young Hudek at age 24 seems to have a lot of time on his hands, having made just under 200 other flights prior to this incident. That’s a lot of passenger time! I do believe that ingesting the marijuana infused candy was an absolute error in judgment which gave rise to his agitated state. Two years in jail is a hard lesson to learn for an otherwise model citizen, yet his actions certaining could have had more devastating consequences.
Iain Robertson -1
Professional hockey players have caused permanent injuries to other players during fights without any criminal charges ever being laid. The gleeful fans just cheer and encourage it.

2 years, 5 years or 10 years in jail won't do much to change the assaulter, but a civil suit and a criminal record for assault will change his life forever. Note that keep a prisoner in jail for a year costs around 35,000-40,000 USD.
But not at 30,000 feet
David Buck 1
Don't like Hockey eh! What a pitiful post !

[This comment has been downvoted. Show anyway.]

AWAAlum 4
Leon - Your comment doesn't appear to have any relation at all to the squawk. It wasn't Air France, and there wasn't any rude crew member. As to whether or not there were or were not any non-French speaking pax on this particular Delta flight, I can't comment.

WRT Air Frog: there is a very good reason why we, the British, stay on our side of the English Channel!

However, this seems pretty certainly to have been a Delta Airlines flight and he was on a "dependent pass" (whatever that is). Surely, trying to open an exit door at altitude, apart from being terminally stupid, would result in a charge of "endangering an aircraft"?

Perhaps this is merely a symptom of a general decline in manners and "consideration for others" which stems from a growing "me-me-me" attitude which is spreading through society.

And the druggies say there is no risk in taking marijuana?

Bob Keeping -8
Frogs are just that way - I lived in quebec for over 20 years and it is rampant there too.


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