A Hawaiian Airlines passenger accused of assaulting a flight attendant and biting one of two Federal Air Marshal deputies who restrained him during an 11-hour flight from New York says he doesn’t remember any of that.
Ricardo Caceres, 43, said in U.S. District Court on Friday that he had been under a lot of stress because of his financial situation and work, so he took Xanax to calm himself down and Ambien to fall asleep on his Feb. 26 flight to a vacation in Hawaii.
He told U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard L. Puglisi that he also had five vodka drinks and a glass of wine with his dinner during the flight.
Caceres said all he remembers is getting upset over a passenger behind him pushing his seat, being in the back of the plane, being told to stay there and trying to get back to his seat. He said he was surprised when a flight attendant later told him what had happened.
He pleaded guilty Friday to interfering with flight crew members and attendants and faces a maximum 20-year prison term at sentencing in September. Because he is not a U.S. citizen, Caceres, a native of Mexico, also faces possible immigration consequences.
His lawyer, Shanlyn Park, told Puglisi that even though Caceres doesn’t remember what happened, he was pleading guilty because voluntary intoxication is not a legal defense for the crime for which he is charged.
In exchange for the guilty plea, the prosecutor promised to drop a charge accusing Caceres of assaulting a law enforcement officer.
One of the deputy air marshals told the FBI he saw Caceres throw water and spit food at flight attendants who were trying to calm him. After the attendants took Caceres to the back of the plane, he pushed one flight attendant against the lavatory doors, the FBI said.
As the flight attendants were trying to restrain Caceres and prevent him from putting a handful of pills into his mouth, the FBI said the air marshal deputies were able to stop Caceres and handcuff him. The FBI said Caceres bit one deputy on the leg while they were trying to handcuff him.
