Man sentenced to six months in prison for groping flight attendant

A Canadian man was sentenced to six months in prison on Monday for groping a flight attendant in August.

Enio Socorro Zayas, 50, pleaded guilty to assaulting an American Airlines flight attendant in October, according to The Associated Press. He was sentenced in Miami federal court.

Zayas was on an American Airlines flight en route to Miami International Airport from Cancun, Mexico, when a flight attendant who was distributing refreshments said she left snacks on his lap because he was believed to be asleep, according to the AP.

The man then allegedly reached out and grabbed the back of the flight attendant’s leg before moving his hand to her buttocks, according to the wire service. Investigators said that no consent was exchanged for the physical contact during the encounter.

Court documents say the flight attendant “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 CNN.

The flight attendant reported the incident once the plane landed, and other passengers confirmed her story, the AP reported.

The Federal Aviation Administration said more than 5,900 cases of unruly passengers were reported in 2021. More than 4,200 of those incidents involved mask mandates.

The agency announced last month that in accordance with a new inter-agency partnership, passengers facing fines for unruly behavior could lose their PreCheck privileges with the Transportation Security Administration.